The Trust Fund
by SilverSteeleandGrey
Summary: Twenty-one year old Christian Grey needs money to start his business, but he has none. He learns that his grandparents set up a trust fund worth 700,000, but he has to be married or twenty-five to access it, which he is neither. Is he desperate enough to ask the one person he can't stand to help him or will he give up on his dreams? No BDSM. AU. All characters belong to E.L James.
1. Homecoming

**Chapter One-Homecoming**

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" I yell as I walk through the door, my luggage in tow behind me.

My mother comes bouncing out of the kitchen, her arms wide open and a beaming grin on her face as she comes towards me. Wrapping me in her arms she says, "Oh, my baby boy is finally home! We've missed you so much!" She pulls back and clasps my face in her hands as she presses multiple kisses on my cheek.

I grimace and pull away. "Jeez, Mother, I'm Twenty-one not twelve enough with the kisses already," I mumble.

She gives me a stern look. "You could be a fifty year old man and that still wouldn't stop me from giving my precious boy kisses."

I roll my eyes and begin pulling my luggage through the foyer and into the kitchen.

"Christian!" Mia screams when she sees me. I brace myself as she throws herself against me and squeezes me tight. "How was England? Oh my God I bet it was wonderful! Did you meet a lot of new people? Did you meet a girl? Ooo, can I see your diploma?"

She's bouncing up and down, her eager eyes focused on me. "Jesus, Mia, would you calm down? Let the guy get settled in first." I look behind me and see Elliot making a face at Mia, then turns at grins at me. "Hey, baby bro! How was England? Find some babe to finally pop your cherry?"

"Elliot Grey!" my mom gasps, earning a laugh and an eye roll from her eldest son.

I turn back to Elliot, a smirk on my face. "England was good. And I did meet a girl, or a few." I chuckle when I see curiosity light up his face. "But don't expect me to tell you anything about it."

"You're laammee," he calls out, walking over to the fridge and pulling out a beer. I only laugh.

"Where's dad?" I ask my mom after glancing around the kitchen and noticing his absence.

"Oh he's over at the Steele's. I guess he needed to discuss something with Ray" she explains, pulling things out of the fridge and preparing dinner I assume. "They'll be over soon."

I was beginning to take my stuff up to my room, but her comment stops me in my tracks. "They'll?" I ask.

She glances up at me. "Oh, Ana and Ray will be over for dinner. Your father invited them over to celebrate your homecoming."

I groan and roll my eyes as I sag against the wall. "Does that spawn of Satan really have to come with him?"

My mother glares at me. "Anastasia is a sweet young girl, Christian. I don't know why you have such an issue with her."

"Because he's in loovvee with her," Mia announces making googly eye at me. I glare at her.

"I am not in love with Anastasia Steele. She's a pain in the ass with an attitude problem and a smart mouth," I say haughtily, then grab the handle to my suitcase and drag it behind me as I tread up the stairs to my room.

I close the door behind me, roll my suitcase in front of my closet doors and then fall limply onto my bed with a heavy sigh. I stare up at the poster of Kim Basinger I taped to my ceiling when I was fourteen. I wish my life was as simple as it was when I was fourteen. All I wanted to do was have fun. I had no responsibilities and disappointment wasn't something I was overly familiar with. But that's all that my life seems to be about now. That and secrets.

My parents sent me away to go to college in England at Oxford University when I was eighteen. They said they would have been fine with me going to any Ivy League here in the U.S, but I was adamant about going overseas and getting perspective I wouldn't necessarily get while on home soil. I did get perspective, a lot of actually, but I'm sure if I told my parents what type of perspective that was, I would be strung up by my balls.

You see, I never wanted to go to college, I thought it was a waste of time. My parents, name say, my father, wanted me to get an education before I was thrust into the professional world. The big problem there was that I believed that I didn't need to be educated on something I already knew, and I definitely wasn't going to let some old bald dudes lecture to me about something that comes natural to me.

So after a semester of resentment, I decided to tell my parents that I was applying to a program offered at Oxford that would allow me to graduate in half the time. They surprisingly bought it. While my parents thought I was working extra hard to get my degree in Politics and Economics, I was actually interning at a company called Schwartz & Billingsley for two years, a highly successful company in London that dealt with Mergers and Acquisitions. I learned things there I knew I would never learn in a classroom, things that would stay with me for life.

Unfortunately the internship ended two weeks ago. I was handed my last check of fifteen hundred dollars and sent on my way. I had no choice but to come back home, but I wasn't ready to give up my independence just yet. So with the little money I had from the monthly allowances my parents had been sending me I went to various clubs, took a few women to different hotels and just lived a little before I went back home to mommy and daddy. With the leftover money I flew back home, jobless, diploma-less, and still no closer to being where I want to be. I saved all of the money I was paid from my internship, but that still left me about thirty thousand short of the one hundred thousand I need to start my business.

Needless to say I'm feeling a little bummed, but that feeling is going to be intensified to the thousandth degree when I'm forced to tell my parents what I've really been doing in England and why I don't have my diploma.

My heart sinks when I hear my mother call me down to help set the table. I groan as I sit up in bed. I decide I'm going to take a shower and redress before I go back down and present myself to family and whoever else my mother invited to share what I know will turn out to be a disappointing evening.

Half an hour later, I smell like masculinity personified and look like I've just walked out of a Vogue magazine. I roll my eyes at my navy blazer and trouser pants, paired with a crisp, clean button-up. Mia sent this to me for my birthday last year, claiming it was an outfit she just couldn't turn away from.

When I get downstairs I'm immediately assaulted by the enticing scent of buttermilk fried chicken. My mother makes the best fired chicken known to mankind.

When I walk into the kitchen my mother glares at me. "I told you to be down here to set the table almost an hour ago, Christian. Now you'll have to help wash dishes."

I huff out an annoyed breath. We have a perfectly functioning dishwasher but my mother still insists that dishes be hand washed. I guess to teach us some type of bullshit or something like that.

"Yes, Mother," I grumble.

"Now help me carry these dishes to the dining table. Your father called and said they'll be over in ten minutes. That was five minutes ago."

I groan. Just what I needed. A family meal with the She-Devil. I believe my mom when she says that Ana is a sweet young girl, but that's just it. She _is_ a sweet young girl. To everyone but me. She aggravates and irritates me like no one else can, and I swear the little spawn of Satan goads me just to rile me up. She gets some type of sick pleasure form it.

My and Ana's relationship wasn't always so tension-filled. When we were younger we used to be really close, then when our teen years hit, I don't know we just grew apart. She started hanging out with more of her girlfriends, while I spent my time talking to other girls and hanging with my friends. The last time I remember getting along with her is when both of our families took a road trip to Colorado and that was when we were twelve or eleven.

And then when I was a freshman in high school and she was still in the eighth grade, things just really fell apart between us. I would say hi to her if we ever saw each other outside in our backyards, but the little brat just rolled her eyes at me and flicked me off. I remember being a little taken aback at first because I had no idea what I did to make her act such a way towards me, but when I confronted her about it she made some rude, snide comment. I made one back, of course, and I guess that's when our dislike for each other started.

Now every time we see each other it's just comes naturally to constantly insult and belittle the other. Which is why I'd rather her not be here when I'm forced to tell my parents about my lack of a degree. The little witch will take full advantage of that vulnerability and repeatedly throw it in my face. I don't need to be kicked when I'm already on the ground, and if I know Anastasia I think it's safe to say that's her favorite activity.

"They're here!" I hear Mia yell as she runs past me and around the corner to the foyer.

Knowing my mother will berate me for not greeting our guests properly, I slowly follow Mia's trail and stand on the sidelines as my family greets the Steele's.

My dad and Mr. Steele are talking to Elliot while my mom and Mia are chatting away with Ana. I haven't seen Ana since I left for school, which was a little over two years ago and I'm quietly curious to see how much she's changed. Unfortunately I can't see her since my mother and Mia are blocking my view. I'm pulled away from the wall when Ray calls me over.

"You've gotten tall, son. It's been what? Almost three years since I last saw you?"

I smile and shake Ray's hand. "Just about," I say.

His blue eyes sparkle with curiosity as he asks, "So how did Oxford treat you? Your father here tells me you've graduated already? I didn't hear about the graduation."

I shift uncomfortable on my feet. "Oh, no, Christian said he'd rather celebrate graduating college back home than in England, right, Christian?" my dad asks, a proud smile on his face.

I give him a tight smile and a sharp incline of my head. Shit, I feel like a total ass. My dad is so proud of me, and I'm just going to shatter that illusion with a few words I know will probably change a lot. I stare at him, wondering if I'd rather get it over now rather than later.

"Dad," I begin, "can I talk to yo-"

I'm cut off when I hear Ana's voice behind me. "Well, well, well. Look what the rats dragged in," she teases.

I roll my eyes and turn around, about to give her a piece of my mind, but when my eyes meet hers the words die in my throat. My mouth hangs open as my eyes bulge out. The girl in front of me looks nothing like the Ana I used to know. No, this is a woman, with perky breasts, a slim waist, and curvy hips. What the hell? How the fuck did she change so much in just two years? My eyes settle on her face. I feel myself gulp. My God, she's beautiful. I mean, she's always been beautiful, but now she's just . . . she's gorgeous. Her eyebrows are shaped perfectly, high, defined cheekbones, plump lips and brilliant blue eyes highlighted by light makeup. There is no way this woman is the brat that made me want to rip out my hair.

I hear her throat being cleared, and when I focus on her she has a brow raised. "You done staring now?" she sneers.

Oh yeah, this is definitely Ana. Only she can grind on my nerves with just a few words. "Oh excuse me, I was just trying to figure out what the hell I was looking at."

She narrows her eyes. "You're one to talk. You actually looked decent before you left, now you look like you crawled out of the sewer . . . ugh, smell like it too. What, you didn't know how to shower without mommy there to help you?"

"Why are you such a little bitch?" I growl at her.

"Hey, okay now that's enough," my mother says. "We just can't have a nice family gathering without you two biting each other's heads off, can we?"

"She started it," I mutter.

"Yeah, well now I'm ending it. Let's all go settle-"

My mother's cut off when the front door opens. "We're here!" my Grandpa Grey aka Papa says. I didn't know he was even coming. "Look who we found outside." Behind him are his wife, and then my mother's parents. I didn't know they were coming either.

Everyone hugs and greets each other and then my mother guides us all into the dining room. We take our seats and I glance up only to find that Ana is directly across from me. I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing. I decide it's bad when I find myself taking glances at her, my mind still not accepting that the beautiful woman in front of my is the same clumsy girl with lanky limbs and a smart mouth.

We've just settled down, the conversation flowing as well as the wine, when my father starts in.

"So, Christian how does it feel to be a college grad? I remember when I graduated from Harvard, I felt so liberated and so empowered, it's such a good feeling to feel you've accomplished something so big."

My mother laughs. "Carrick, you also said that when you turned twenty-one and you did you're first keg." Everyone laughs, but I feel a sinking feeling in my stomach. I'm slowly losing my appetite and I'm tempted to ask to be excused.

When everyone calms down Papa looks at me. "So tell me, son, how many job offers have you've gotten so far? A degree from Oxford must open up some tightly locked doors."

"Um . . ." I stutter shifting in my seat, I feel like everyone's staring at me. I begin to sweat.

"I remember when I graduated from Yale I had five job offers in my back pocket and I hadn't even been out of school a week yet," my Grandpa Theo aka Gramps says before taking a bite of mashed potatoes.

"Did you take the offer that put you were you are now, Gramps?" Mia asks.

He grins at her. "No, actually. The job I picked I was only at for a year. It was the job I took after that that got me to Trevelyan, Brines and Sykes at Law, which at the time was just called Sykes at Law." He smiles proudly when he's finished.

"Well since we're all talking about graduating, did Ana tell you guys that she's graduating from WSUV this year?" Mia cheers.

Everyone turns to Ana, including me, thankful the attention is off of me for now. I smirk as she wilts under everyone's stares. She's never been one to take to being the center of attention well.

"It's nothing," she says. "I was talking to my advisor and she told me I was able to graduate early since I've taken more credits than required each semester." She looks down at her food as a blush stains her cheeks. I stare at her in delight. I've always thought it was adorable when she blushed when embarrassed.

Everyone congratulates her and pats her on the back. She dismisses all of it, but I can see in her eyes that she loves it. I'm gazing at her unashamed when she happens to glance up at me. We stare at each other, unmoving for a moment until my dad ruins our staring game.

"Christian, you still didn't answer us," he reminds me.

I clear my throat and nervously run my hand through my hair. "Uh, what was the question again?"

Mia butts in. "Ooo! Can we see your diploma now?"

"No," I grunt.

"Why not?" she persists with a pout.

"Because."

She looks at me, a frown on her face. But my Grandpa Grey speaks up before she can ask anything else. "Don't be so modest, son. C'mon, let your family celebrate this momentous occasion with you."

I shift in my seat again. My hearts beating fast and my palms are sweating. "I can't."

"Why not?" my dad asks.

"Because I don't have it, okay?" I shout, my fists clenched on the table and my gaze focused on my father's.

"What do you mean? They didn't give it to you yet?" my mom asks.

I stare down at my plate. "No. I don't have it because I didn't graduate."

I hear nothing but crickets.

 **I have already finished writing this. There will be sixteen chapters, not including the epilogue, and each chapter will be about two thousand words.**

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	2. Ideas

**Chapter Two-Ideas**

Nobody speaks for what seems like hours and I'm too ashamed to look up and see everyone's disappointing gazes.

"Well, this is awkward," I hear Elliot mumble beside me.

This is way beyond awkward. This is excruciating.

"I don't understand," my father says. "How could you not have graduated? We've been paying for you to go to school for the past two years and you mean to tell me it was all for nothing?"

I once again shift in my seat. "You haven't been paying for my education, Dad; you've been paying for me to live in London."

I chance a glance at him. Confusion and bewilderment is written all over his face.

"Wait, so you're saying mom and dad have been paying for you to go to college, but you haven't even been going?" I turn to look at Mia, irritated that's she called me out, yet impressed at her perceptiveness.

I look back at my plate. "Basically," I mumble.

I hear a chair scrape back and then I hear my father's voice bellow, "Christian Grey, my office. Now!"

He doesn't even wait for me to follow him. He stomps away, fully expecting me to follow him like a dog with its tail between its legs. I throw my napkin on top of my plate. No one says anything as I stand up. They're all just staring at me. I happen to see Ana's face when I stand up and I'm surprised and confused when I see shock yet admiration in her eyes. I frown. That woman is so confusing.

I slowly walk towards my father's office. I find my dad pacing behind his desk. He doesn't even look up when I shut the door behind me. I stand there, not knowing what to really say or do.

He makes the decision for me. "Sit down, Christian," he mutters.

I cautiously take a seat in one of his dark leather chairs and avoid eye contact. He paces for a few more moments, then I hear him sigh and sink down into his chair.

"What's going on, son? What's this all about?" he asks me softly, startling me. I was expecting him to yell and chew my ass out.

I'm not really sure how to explain so I just shrug my shoulders.

"Look at me, Christian." I do as he asks. "Why didn't you tell me and your mother that you weren't attending school?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't understand," I tell him, gazing at his green eyes.

"Understand what?" he calmly asks.

"That I never wanted to go to school, Dad!" I tell him, getting riled up. I stand up, running my hands through my hair and begin pacing. "I'm pretty sure I told you before I left that I didn't want to go to school, but you really gave me no choice. Didn't you ever really think about why I wanted to go to London in the first place?" I don't give him a chance to answer. "It was so I could make my own decisions! I knew you and mom would just make surprise visits and try to keep tabs on me if I stayed here. I figured it would be harder to do that if I was overseas and you and mom didn't have the time to fly out whenever you wanted."

I'm standing behind the chair I just vacated as I stare at my father. He's staring back at me and it looks like he's at a loss for words. He sighs and leans forward, running his hand through his hair and then placing his elbows on the desk, folding his hands in front of his mouth.

"So," he begins quietly, "if you weren't attending class, what we're you doing?"

I sit down in the chair. "Interning at Schwartz & Billingsley."

He raises his brows but makes no other movement. "And the money we've sent you?" he asks, his tone soft.

"Paid for food and an apartment."

He purses his lips, shakes his head and gazes at me, indecisiveness clear in his eyes. "I don't even know what to say, Christian. I can honestly tell you I wasn't expecting this, especially from you." He shakes his head. "I think you should go to your room. Tell your mother to meet me in here," he says, his voice filled with disappointment.

I sigh as I wordlessly stand up and leave his office. I go back into the dining room and tell my mother that her husband wants her, then go to my room without saying a word to anyone else.

I don't know how long I've been staring at my wall as I lay on my bed, but it feels like years. I don't know what my mom and dad are talking about, probably a way to punish me for not finishing school. I know I should have told them, but like I told my dad, they wouldn't have understood. They think since they came from families that have only graduated from the most prestigious schools, that life is nothing without education, and I agree that in certain circumstances that's true. But I don't fall into that circumstance. I know what I want to do and I know I don't need an education to be able to do it.

I'm pulled from my thoughts when I hear a knock on my door. I glance at it, wishing I could see who was on the other side, but I just end up grunting, letting whoever's behind it know they can come in.

I'm surprised to see that it's my brother. He was the last person I thought would be the first person I would see after that disaster.

"Hey, bro," he says sitting down on the end of my bed. "You sure do know how to make a homecoming celebration a memorable one." He chuckles.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes right now, Elliot," I mutter, not appreciating him making a joke about something serious.

He sighs. "I'm sorry; I just thought I would try to cheer you up."

"Well you're not helping." I look down at him. "Is that why you came up here?"

"No, I wanted to see if you were okay." I just stare at him. He sighs and leans against the wall. "It's tough, being a Grey. I know how it feels to disappoint mom and dad." He looks at me. "Remember after I came home from MIT I told them I graduated with a degree in Architecture instead of Law?" I nod my head. "Yeah, they weren't too happy; well I should say dad wasn't too happy. He so wanted me to follow in his footsteps, but I couldn't see myself going down that path." He stops talking and stares at my bathroom door.

Shaking his head and turning to look at me, he says, "I'm telling you this because I was in your exact shoes. I know how it feels to be a disappointment, but you're not." He shrugs. "I'm proud of you. You stood up for what you wanted to do, and I know how badly all children want to make their parents happy, but we're living for ourselves not them, right?"

I give a small smile and nod. "Anyways, I just wanted to check on you." He smiles and pats my leg, then stands up.

"Thanks, Lelliot."

He grins. "No problem, baby bro."

He steps out and begins to close the door, but I call out his name before he shuts it completely. He peeks his head back inside.

"Yeah?"

I sit up. "You said dad was disappointed in you, and I know how dad can be. I know he didn't give you the money to pay off school or start Grey Construction, so how did you pay for it all?"

He frowns. "The trust fund Papa and Nana Beth set up."

"You have a trust fund?" I ask disbelieving.

His frown deepens and he steps back into my room. "We all do." When he sees my shocked expression he explains. "Each of us has a trust fund of seven hundred thousand dollars. I was told they've been dumping money into it since each of us were born. You really didn't know about it?"

I shake my head.

"I thought everyone knew." He shakes his head and shrugs. "Anyway, Papa was adamant that we couldn't get our hands on it until we turned twenty-five or we got married, which ever happened first."

I frown. "But you're only twenty-three and you're not married," I point out.

"I know, but I talked to Nana Beth about my predicament and she let me get it anyway. So I got Papa's trust fund, now I'm waiting to turn thirty so I can get my hands on Gramps' trust fund." My eyes grow wide. "What? You didn't know about that one either?" I shake my head. He only chuckles. "It's like you've been gone longer than two years, bro. Anyway, none of us can get Gramps' trust fund open until we're thirty. And no he won't bend on it, I've already tried."

"So you think if I just talk to Papa he'll let me open my trust fund early?"

Elliot shrugs. "He might, but I got Nana Beth to persuade him to let me open mine."

I nod my head at him as I stare into space.

"Are you coming back down stairs? I think Ray and Ana are about to leave," he remarks.

"Uh, yeah. I'll be down in a moment," I murmur. A few seconds later I hear to the door close.

I fall back onto my bed and think of logical excuses and sound reasoning I can use to persuade my grandfather to let me get to my trust fund early. When I have everything pinpointed in my head, I dash down stairs and go into the dining room. It's completely empty but I hear voices and laughter coming from the family room. I spot my grandfather immediately when I walk into the room.

"Papa, can I speak to you a moment?" I ask.

Everyone stops talking and looks at me, I notice that the Steele's are still here but my mother and father aren't in the room. They're probably still discussing my sentence.

"Sure, boy. I was planning on having a chat with you anyway." He stands up and walks over to me. Reaching his arm out, he throws it over my shoulder. "Come with me to the library."

I silently follow him. When we get inside he closes the door behind him and walks towards the two high-backed leather chairs facing the stone fireplace.

"Sit," he says, motioning to the opposite seat. I do as I'm told.

He folds his hands in his lap and crosses his leg at the knee.

Staring at me, he says, "Now what is it you wanted to talk about, son?"

I shift in my seat, trying to get comfortable. My nervousness isn't helping; I want him to agree to what I want.

"Well," I begin, "I was told that all of the Grey grandchildren have a trust fund that you and Nana Beth have set up for us, and I know the stipulations, but I was wondering if I could open mine early?" I glance at him, but he's expressionless. I give him my thought out speech as to why he should do this for me. When I'm finished, he's still gazing at me as if I haven't said one word to him.

He rubs his hand against his chin. "So what you're telling me is that since you think you've basically been cheated two years of your life, you think I should give you seven hundred thousand dollars early to make up for that lost time and to start up this business you're wanting?"

I clear my throat. "Well I wouldn't have worded it like that, but essentially, yes."

He raises his brow up at me, but he's silent for a few moments. "You know, I think you're a talented, brilliant young man, and I hope you know I would do anything I can for you, but this just isn't one of those things, Christian."

I stare at him disbelieving, not wanting to accept the words I'm hearing. I try to keep my anger and aggravation in check. "Why isn't it?"

He folds his arms against his chest. "Well, frankly, I don't think you're all that mature to handle so much money. And then there's the fact that you manipulated your parents into paying for your expenses while you were out doing God knows what in London."

I stand up in a rush, my fury over taking me. "I was working while I was in London, despite what you or you high handed wife would like to think. And I didn't manipulate my parents; they paid for my welfare, so how would that be perceived as me taking advantage of them? You know what? This is bullshit! You let Elliot get his money early!"

He stares up at me, his eyes hard and body stiff. "If I can recall correctly, Elliot graduated from college. And don't ever let me hear you disrespect your grandmother again, Christian Grey."

I ignore his last statement. "So that's what it's always going to come down to, isn't it? Poor Christian didn't get his college degree, he might as well throw in the towel on his life now, right? Right?" I scream. "I guess I'll still be begging for money for another four years until someone has enough faith in me to succeed." I glare at him and don't bother sticking around to hear what he has to say. Stomping out of the library, I slam the door behind me and make my way towards my room.

When I round the corner to get to the stairs, I see my parents saying goodbye to Ana and Ray. My mother spots me as I climb the stairs.

"Christian, come say goodbye to Ana and Ray."

"Bye," I mumble, not even bothering to turn around and look at them.

I'm surprised I don't hear Ana make any smart ass remarks as I trail up the stairs, but even if she did I wouldn't have cared. I just want to be alone. I don't want to talk to anyone. And I sure as hell don't want to see my family.

When I get to my room I strip down to my boxers and get into bed, making sure I locked my door before I get comfortable. After a few minutes of silently staring into space I try to think of any other options I may have. Clearly I won't be twenty-five any time soon, and I'm sure as hell not getting married, I mean how could I, I don't even have a girlfriend. But then again even if I did I wouldn't marry her, I'm way too young to be tying the knot.

I laugh at myself when I think about just paying a girl to marry me for a while, and then sometime after I've gotten my money just get an annulment. I wouldn't like the fact that I would have to actually get married, but it'd be worth it with the opportunities that would come with it. We wouldn't have to be intimate either. We would just keep things simple, put on a little show, and then when everything is said and done just go our separate ways.

Ah, if only life was that simple.

I sit up. Who says it couldn't be that simple? Why can't I just bribe a girl to marry me so I can get my money? It's the perfect plan. I'm sure I can find a girl who would agree, but I don't want someone who's clingy and will be expecting more than I'm willing to give.

I get out of bed and pick up my trousers, digging in my pockets to get my phone. I go through my contacts and decide which girl would be the best.

Amber? No.

Alicia? Hell no.

Brittany? No, she's psycho.

Brianna? No. Not marriage material.

Bailey? Definitely not.

Celia? Fuck no.

Ciara? Why would I even ask myself that?

Dianne? Ugh, why do I still have her number?

I flop back on my bed as I continue to scroll through names. Who knew I even had so many girls' numbers? I frown and sit up when I come across the name She-Devil. It takes me a minute to remember who it is, but when I do it's like a light bulb goes off in my head.

"Anastasia. Perfect."

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	3. Propositions

**Chapter Three-Propositions**

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when I hear a knock on my door. I don't say anything knowing it will most likely be my mother or father and I'm not in the mood to talk to them. They knock again, and then I hear my father's voice.

"I know you're in there, Christian. Open the door."

I stay silent.

"Christian I'd rather not have to go hunt down the keys to unlock this door, so why don't you just save me the hassle and unlock it yourself."

I sigh and get up, dragging my feet as I unlock the door. I don't say anything as I pull it open. I just go back to sitting on my bed, pretending to be doing something on my phone. He sits down at the edge of my bed. Neither of us says anything for a few minutes, but then he breaks the silence.

"You're mother and I have been talking, and we think that we have come up with a good compromise in a way of punishment."

I don't say anything. I don't look up at him either. But I want to ask why he's punishing me for not finishing college. But then he corrects that assumption.

"Not a punishment for not finishing college, but for knowingly deceiving your mother and I to pay for you to live out there, when you should have just come home if you weren't being educated."

I inwardly roll my eyes. I still stay silent with my focus on my phone.

He huffs out a loud breath, and I have a feeling it's because I'm not paying him any attention.

"As retribution to your mother and me, you will be working as your grandfather's assistant at his office. Your mother said it was terribly unorganized. And that he could use the help since Sabrina quit. This is your way of paying us back for all the money we sent you," he tells me.

I drop my phone and stare at him incredulously. "Wait, you're expecting me to work at Gramp's office in effort to pay you _all_ of the money you sent me?" I shriek. I would be working there for years if they're really expecting that. They had to of sent me at least over forty thousand.

"That and then some." He gazes at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we all think you can be humbled a little more. I know you're only twenty-one, but you still have a little bit more growing up to do."

I turn away from him and roll my eyes. "Whatever," I mumble.

He stands up and walks towards the door. "We've spoken to your grandfather. He's expecting you at the office eight o'clock sharp Monday morning."

I don't respond. I just watch him leave.

I sigh and throw my head back onto my pillow. Could my life get any worse? All I wanted was a loan and some support but clearly I ask too much of my family. And now I'm being forced to work _unpaid_ for my grandfather because my parents are fascists. Nothing against my grandfather of course, and I honestly don't mind working for him, it's the forced part that irks me. My grandpa Theo is really my favorite.

I look up at my ceiling. "What would you do if you were in my shoes, Kim Basinger?" Of course I'm not expecting an answer, but my answer does come to me. And it's living right next door.

I redress and as quietly as I can descend the stairs and slip out through the back door. I don't want Ray to know about this little rendezvous, so I run across my back yard into the Steele's and look up at Ana's glass doors leading to the balcony. The lights are on so I know she's in there.

I look around me and find small pebbles around the miniature pond Ray dug a few years back. I throw the rocks as softly as I can until I see her face come into view.

I watch as she moves her curtain, frowns when she sees it's me and pulls the door open. She glares down at me. "Stop throwing pebbles at my door, you ass hat!" she yells.

I put my finger to my mouth and shush her. I don't want anyone to know I'm here. I look around to make sure no one has seen me. Thank God it's getting dark out.

"I need to talk to you," I whisper yell at her.

"Then why didn't you ring the doorbell like a normal person?" she whisper yells back.

"Because no one can know about this."

"About what?"

"Meet me in the boat house and I'll explain." I turn around, not giving her the chance to argue and walk towards my parents' boathouse.

I go up to the bedroom with the big round window and wait for Ana on the small loveseat that faces the bed. I'm only waiting a few moments.

I look up as she walks into the room in yellow and blue bunny pajamas and smirk at her. "Cute jammies."

She ignores my comment and puts her hands on her hips as she glares at me. "Okay, I'm here now, tell me what you want. I do have better things to do, believe it or not," she gripes.

I hesitate. Should I just come out with it or lay it down gently? I look up at her, distracted for a moment by her eyes, and then shake my head. I'll lay it down gently.

"I need your help," I begin, looking up at her with pleading eyes.

"With what?"

I take a deep breath. "I need money to start my business, but I can't find anyone to give me a loan. Elliot told me that Nana Beth and Papa set up a trust fund for us when each of us was born, but the catch is we can't access it until we turn twenty-five or we get married, whichever one happens first."

I stare up at her. She only raises a brow, an inquisitive look on her face.

"Okay," she says slowly. "What is it that you exactly need my help with?"

I glance up at her, my gaze apprehensive.

"I want you to become my wife."

 **This is the shortest chapter in the entire story.**

 **Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows. You guys are amazing.**

 **SS &G xoxo**

 **P.S. I'm turning 21 Monday and I'll be celebrating most of the week, so I'm not sure when the next update will exactly be. I'll try to update at least once or twice.**


	4. Proposals

**Chapter Four-Proposals**

She falls onto the bed with a blank expression as she stares at me open-mouthed.

I stay quiet a few minutes to let the shock wear off, but when she doesn't say anything for almost five minutes I break the silence.

"Ana?"

She seems to snap out of it and her blue eyes blaze at me. She stands up in a rush and glowers down at me.

"Have you lost your everloving mind?" she yells. "I cannot believe you would even have the audacity to ask me that, I mean marriage? To you?" she openly scoffs at the thought while shaking her head.

"It would only be temporary," I remark.

She rubs her forehead frantically. "Temporary or not you're still asking me to be your _wife_ , Christian!"

I stand up in front of her and take her hands into mine. "Look, I get that I'm asking a lot, and you have to understand how desperate I must be to ask you to do this for me. But seriously, look at it from my standpoint, Ana. You saw what happened today at dinner. I need money to start my business so I can prove to my family that life without a college degree isn't the end of the world." I look at her with pleading eyes. "I need this, Ana. I need to prove them wrong. I want them to realize that they should've had faith in me to be successful without an Ivy League diploma in my hand."

She stares at me. I watch as different emotions pass through her eyes. She blinks and looks down. "I don't know, Christian." She looks back up at me. "I can barely stand you on good days. I think maybe you should find someone else to-"

"No one else would understand the way you would, Ana. And I consider that a good thing that we can barely stand each other. That means our expectations won't be high." I step back and run my hand through my hair. "Look, I'm not expecting you to accept this right now. Just think about it, okay? You have my number," I say as I leave the boathouse.

When I get back to my room I don't know what to do. I don't feel like watching TV, I don't want to read, I don't want to socialize with my family. I decide to just take a long hot shower in hopes of washing away my rapidly building stress.

When I get out of the shower, I wrap a warm fluffy towel around my waist and head towards my closet to grab some pajamas. The chime of my phone alerting me of a new message pulls me back into my room.

I unlock my phone and see I have a text from Ana.

 _*You told me what you'd be getting out of a marriage to me, but what would I be getting from it?_

 _The trust fund contains $700,000. I'll give you 15% of that.*_

I wait for a reply but one doesn't come. I throw my phone down on my bed and put my pajamas on. I flop onto my mattress and put my earphones into my phone, wanting to listen to music to pass the time. I play my Brian Culbertson soundtrack to relax me, and before I know it I'm dozing off.

When I wake up, I look up at the clock and see that it's only two in the morning. My body clock is still on London time. I try to go back to sleep but I can't even though I feel exhausted. I get up to use the bathroom, and when I sit up I accidently pull my earphones from my ears. I pick up my phone and try to press the home button, but soon realize my phones dead. I groan and throw it aside and go use the bathroom.

When I come back I turn on my bedside lamp and stare at nothing. But think of everything. I wonder if I already had money where I would be? I know for a fact I would have my own apartment. I love my family even though they piss me off, but I'm ready to live on my own. I'm tired of people breathing down my neck and constantly asking me questions. Maybe that's what I should do with the money I saved up from my internship? I might as well do something with it that will push me forward in my life.

I sigh as I roll onto my side.

I know I'm only twenty-one, which is still pretty young, but I feel like I'm trapped in the same spot as I was when I was eighteen. I don't feel like I have many options right now and I'm not sure how to push ahead, let alone where to start.

I got a glowing review from Schwartz & Billingsley so I know if I wanted a job I have a good recommendation over my head, but that's the problem. I don't want a job. I want a career and I can't get that without money. It's always about fucking money.

I turn to my other side.

I wish Ana would just agree. It would be so easy and it's not like we would even have to see each other every day. I mean she's still in college and I'll be working hard to get my company up and running. Plus we're both still living at our parent's homes, so it's not like we wouldn't be able to see each other. And I think it'll be easy to convince my family that we're actually in love. Sometimes I really, really cannot stand the woman, but underneath all that bravado is some severe sexual tension. I know she feels it too. Whether I'd ever act on it is another problem altogether.

I flip onto my back.

My eyes find Kim Basinger's.

"Oh, Kim," I breathe. "How easy your life must be . . ."

* * *

I slowly open my eyes when I feel sunlight shining down on my eyelids. I hadn't realized that I fell asleep again, but I'm thankful I did. I would have driven myself mad with all my thoughts bouncing around in my head.

I rub my eyes as I stand up and go to the bathroom. I take my morning shit and shower, and leave the bathroom feeling refreshed. As I'm walking downstairs I decide I'd rather have breakfast with just Elliot instead of my entire family. I go to find him but once I step onto the ground floor, the front door opens and in walks Ana and Ray. Mr. Steele doesn't seem to notice me, but Ana's piercing gaze finds mine.

She grabs my hand and pulls me back up the stairs onto the second floor and into the hallway bathroom.

"Why didn't you answer my text, Idiot?" She questions me.

"Wow, good morning to you, too, sunshine. Aren't you just a sight for sore eyes?"

She rolls her eyes. "Just answer my question, asshole."

I cross my arms over my chest. "What message are you talking about, She-Devil?"

She glares at me and pinches my arm. "Ow!"

"You're such a wimp. Now answer my question."

"My phone died last night. I didn't even know you texted me back."

I reach over and flick her nose.

"Ow, Christian! You know I have a sensitive nose, why would you do that?"

"You pinched me."

"So that gives you the right to flick me?" Her baby blues are glaring holes into me.

She reaches out and I know she's going straight for the nipple. I fucking hate when she does that. And she knows I can't do it back to her which is why she does it.

"Don't even think about it," I hiss, holding her wrist in my grasp.

"Let go of me," she demands.

I push her away from me as I let go and hold my hands over my chest. She smirks at me. I roll my eyes.

"Since you're making such a big deal about this mysterious message you sent me, what did it say?"

"What?"

I glare at her. "Do you know how to fucking listen?"

"Do you know how to not be a fucking asshole?"

"Do you know how to not to a spoiled bitch?"

She glowers at me. "Fuck you, Christian. And to think I was actually going to agree to help with your pathetic excuse of a life."

She goes to the door and gets it open about an inch but I grab her by her upper arms and pull her back. "What? You were going to agree?"

"I was. But not anymore." She lets out a bitter laugh. "I can't believe I was actually going to agree to marry a piece of shit." She laughs again, more humorously this time. "I was going to marry honest to God shit!"

I glare at her and grip her arms tighter. "Will you just stop being irritating for one minute, Anastasia?"

She rolls her eyes. "Or what? You going to go boo-hoo to mommy?" She laughs again.

I've never been more tempted in my life to slap a woman. I dig my fingernails into her skin. She stops laughing to tell me that I'm hurting her.

"Good. Maybe now you'll keep your huge mouth shut." She tries to pull away but I only grip her tighter.

"Jeez, okay, Christian I'll stop just let go. You're seriously hurting me."

I let go and take a step back as she rubs her arms.

Her angry eyes meet mine. "I'll castrate you if I bruise."

"Promises, promises," I mutter flippantly. "Now do you or do you not agree to marry me?"

She raises her noise in the air haughtily. "I do not."

"Why, exactly?" I grit out through my teeth.

She looks me straight in the eye. "Because I don't want to have to tell people that I'm married to an asshole."

"Oh and you think you're my ideal wife? How do you think I'll feel having to tell people I'm married to the anti-Christ?"

She crosses her arms and scoffs. "You'd better be lucky I wasn't that evil. Your life would be worse than what it already is."

"Oh trust me, it's getting there."

She glowers at me as I glare at her. Neither one of us moves, or blinks, and if I'm right Ana's even stopped breathing. Then she lets her breath out harshly through her nose.

She throws her hands into the air. "See, this is why I said you should pick some other girl. It hasn't even been ten minutes and I'm ready to rip your head off!"

"Well if you would learn to keep your mouth shut once in a while, I'm sure you wouldn't feel that way. Sure you would learn a lot more too," I mutter the last part under my breath.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

She purses her lips. "And you wondered why I wouldn't marry you, you're such a child!"

My reply is just on the tip of my tongue but I close my mouth, knowing if I say something this bickering will go on forever. I look at her. "You're right. Some of my remarks were childish. I'm sorry."

She looks at me completely speechless. "Um . . ."

I smirk. "So now I'll ask you again. Will you marry me?"

She looks at me skeptically. "Give me one good reason I should agree to this?"

I don't have to think long about my answer. "Because I need you more than I've ever needed anyone else to make me happy."

She stares at me and then clears her throat. I see a small smile soften her lips. "Get down on one knee and ask me."

My shoulders slump. "Seriously?"

"Even if it's not a real marriage I still want to act like it is. Now don't take the fun out of the tradition. Get on one knee and ask me," she demands sternly.

I sigh, but for some reason I can't keep the small smile off my face.

Sinking down onto one knee, I take her left hand in both of mine and gaze up at her. "Anastasia Steele, will you be my wife?"

She looks down at me with a smirk on her face. "I guess," she answers resignedly.

I stand up and pull her into my arms. I close my eyes and inhale the flowery scent of her hair. I exhale softly as I whisper, "Thank you for doing this, Ana."

She's about to say something but we both pull away when we hear a loud gasp from the doorway. We both look over and there stands Mia with both hands covering her mouth and wide eyes.

 **Thanks for the lovely birthday wishes. It was a fun day despite it being Monday.**

 **Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites.**

 **SS &G xoxo**


	5. Exposes

**Chapter Five-Exposés**

"Oh my God," Mia breathes. "You just proposed to her! You're engaged! I didn't even know you two were dating!" She looks at us with wide eyes. "I thought you hated each other?"

She looks back and forth at us and me and Ana look at each other. "Uh . . ." I begin.

"Um, it was just for show," Ana explains, glancing at me uncertainly. "We wanted everyone to believe that we didn't like each other so they wouldn't find out about us."

Mia beams. "So you guys are in love?"

Ana and I take another glance at each other.

"Yeah," we say in unison.

"I knew it!" she cheers! "I could see the love in Christian's eyes every time he looked at you during dinner yesterday." Mia is looking at us like we've told her she could have her own Prada store.

"Oh my God, wait till I tell mom! She's going to flip! Eek, it's going to be soo fun planning the wedding and the bridal shower and the bachelorette party!" Mia claps her hands as she bounces on her feet.

I move from Ana and grab Mia's arms as I look her in the eyes. "Mia you can't tell anyone about this, okay? Ana and I want to keep it private a little while longer so promise me you won't say a word to anyone?"

Her face falls. "But . . ."

"Promise me."

She sighs. "Fine. I promise I won't tell anyone. But can I plan the wedding?"

I roll my eyes. "Mia, we just got engaged, for Christ sakes. Give us some time to get used to the idea before you start doing the whole shebang, alright?"

She harrumphs and pouts, thinking her puppy dog eyes are going to work on me. "Not this time, sweetheart. Those pretty little eyes ain't gonna get you anywhere."

"Ugh, why do you always have to rain on my parade?" She crosses her arms over her chest.

I ignore her pouting party and raise a brow. "So are we done here?"

"No. When did you guys even start dating? And how did you even make it work when you were all the way in England, Christian?"

I look back at Ana and she looks as lost as I feel. "We, um, had a long distance relationship for most of it, but we tried to see each other as much as possible," Ana announces convincingly. She used to be a horrible liar. I guess she's been practicing.

Mia looks at Ana. "So that one time last year when you said you we're going to a friend's bachelor part in Spokane, did you actually go see Christian? And what about that time when you said a group of your classmates were all going to California for Spring Break? Ohh, and that time you went on the tour to Italy? Did you stop by to see your fiancé?" Mia grins conspiratorially at Ana.

Ana bites her lip and shrugs guiltily. "You got me."

Mia rushes towards her and throws her arms around Ana. Ana makes a _hmph_ sound and glances at me while she hugs Mia back and pats her back awkwardly. Mia pulls away and beams at her.

"You know what this means, right?"

Ana just gazes at her. "No?"

"We're going to be sisters!" She goes to hug her again but I push her away.

"Okay, Mia, how about you let me and my _fiancée_ talk for a minute and you go wait downstairs." I frown at her when a sudden thought hits me. "Why were you up here anyway?"

"Mom told me to come find you. I was walking up the stairs when I head talking coming from the bathroom." Her eyes shift to Ana. "Oh, by the way Ray thinks you went back home because you knew Christian would be here." She giggles. "If only he knew the truth."

"Which you're not gonna tell," I remind her.

"I already promised I wouldn't tell."

"Good. Now go tell everyone we'll be down soon." I push her out of the bathroom and then close the door. I lean up against it and close my eyes, savoring the silence.

"I've known Mia my whole life and yet I still can't seem to get used to her bubbly personality," Ana mutters in front of me.

"I know, I'm sorry. I should have realized the door was open knowing this house is filled with nothing but Nosey Nancy's."

Ana smirks at me but doesn't say anything. I don't say anything either because I'm not sure what to say.

Ana clears her throat and gives me a tight smile. "I guess we better get down there then."

"Yeah."

I open the door and step out but Ana doesn't. I turn around to see what's keeping her. I look at her when she blushes a little.

"What?"

"Um, I have to pee. I'll meet you down there."

I chuckle. "Oh. Do you want me to wait for you?"

She shakes her head. "No. I don't think we should walk down together anyways."

"Good thinking. I'll see you down in a minute."

I hear the door close gently as I begin walking down the stairs. I turn around when I remember that I need to charge my phone. When I get back down stairs I turn the corner meaning to go to the kitchen, but when I look up I see Ana standing just at the threshold of the kitchen and everyone staring at her. I walk up behind her.

"What's going on?" I ask, looking between her and my family.

"You're engaged!" my mother screeches.

My eyes immediately search for Mia's. I find her cowering behind Papa. I glower at her.

I clear my throat and take a quick look at Ana. She's frozen with fear. I grab her hand in mine and I watch everyone's eyes shift to between us.

"Yes," I answer my mother. "But we weren't planning on telling everyone so soon." I glare at Mia again. She mouths _I'm sorry_ , but I just roll my eyes. The girl couldn't keep her mouth shut even if it saved her life.

"But . . . we thought you couldn't stand each other," my mother stutters.

I hear Elliot laugh from the side of the kitchen. "It was probably just foreplay."

"Elliot Grey!" my mother chides.

My father steps forward, his green eyes scrutinizing us. "So you're telling us that you two love each other enough to sign a legal document stating that you vow to be committed to each other forever?"

"Yes," Ana and I both say together.

My dad narrows his eyes further until they're thin slits. "And this has nothing to do with wanting your trust fund early, Christian?"

"No," I say, pulling Ana closer to me, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. "I love Ana. I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

I feel Ana look up at me, so I look down at her and smile. She smiles back.

"Forever, you say," my dad's father says. "Well why not make your forever start next weekend!" I can tell by the tone of his voice that he doesn't believe that this thing between Ana and me is real.

I look at him square in the eye. "Fine."

"What?" Ana whisper yells at me. Her panicked eyes find mine. "Next weekend?"

I shrug. "Why not? It was going to happen sooner or later. I'd rather it be sooner than later."

"But . . ."

I lift my arm from off her shoulder and turn her to face me as I hold her about the arms. "It'll be okay," I whisper.

"I know, but I thought I would've had more time . . ."

I pull away and look down at her, my eyes trained solely on her as I ignore everyone else. "Are you having second thoughts?" I ask.

She looks up at me with those baby blue eyes, and for the first time in my life I have this terrifying urge to kiss Anastasia Steele.

She shakes her head and whispers, "No."

"Are you sure?"

She nods her head as she gazes up at me. The urge to kiss her grows stronger and stronger the longer she looks at me, and then I see the back of my eyelids but feel my mouth on hers. She's stiff at first, but then when I begin to move my lips over hers she loosens up and kisses me right back. Jesus, can she kiss. I feel nothing but sensation and a burning hunger burning inside me the deeper I fall into the kiss. I hold her head and lower back as I poke my tongue at her lips. She immediately gives me entrance. I stick my tongue in her mouth, tasting her, my tongue dueling with hers. And just for a moment I forget everything, but reality suddenly creeps back in.

"Fuck, bro, let the poor girl up to breathe!" Elliot hollers.

I pull back from Ana, but I don't pull my gaze away from her. She's staring at me in wonder and I'm sure I'm staring at in her desire. I watch as her chest moves up and down rapidly. I look back into her eyes just as she blinks and pulls away. I turn and look at my family. My father and paternal grandfather are looking at me in shock and skepticism, while my mother and grandmothers are gazing at me with reverential wonder. My eyes shift to Ray, and I immediately turn away when I see the burning scowl on his face. I happen to glance at Ana, only to find her beet red with her head down.

"Well, this is going to be an interesting breakfast," Elliot remarks.

I sigh. Yeah, no shit.

 **Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites.**

 **SS &G xoxo**

 **Just a reminder, keep the reviews respectful or keep your unwanted opinions to yourself.**


	6. Expectations

**Chapter Six-Expectations**

We're all sitting at the dining table again, but this time instead of Ana sitting across from me, she's sitting right next to me. Gretchen serves breakfast as both of our families hound us with question after question. I'm paying more attention to Gretchen and trying to figure out where the hell she was yesterday.

"When did you guys even start dating?" Papa asks, gazing at me with scrutinizing eyes.

I inwardly roll my eyes at him. If he wasn't family I would severely dislike him.

I glance at Ana; we really haven't discussed the details of our lie, mainly because Mia didn't give us the chance to. I glare at her for about the thousandth time in less than ten minutes.

"Um, about three years now," Ana says. "He told me how he felt about me when he was leaving for England, and I told him I felt the same."

I raise a brow at her. She gives me a look that says 'what?' I just shake my head and address my family.

"She's right. I've liked her for a while and I didn't want to go all the way across the world without telling her how I felt."

All the girls are looking at me with the _Aww_ faces while the men are looking rather skeptical, aside from my Grandpa Theo. Ray is looking like he doesn't know what to think or feel. I keep my gaze away from his as much as possible.

"Isn't that so romantic, Theo?" my grandmother says, reaching over to place her hand over his.

"Sure is," he responds. He winks at me. I smile in return.

"Bro, that doesn't make any sense," Elliot says, his mouth full of pancakes and bacon. I feel my heart drop at the thought of him catching us in our lie. "You said that you met a few girls back in England. Either you were lying or telling the truth."

I glare at him as I take a drink of water to think of something to say. I feel everyone's eyes bore into at the thought of me cheating on Ana. Papa smirks. I internally roll my eyes.

I clear my throat after I put my glass onto the table. I look at Elliot. "I was lying and telling the truth." I explain further when he gives me a confused look. "Ana likes to role play," I blurt.

I hear Ana gasp and choke beside me as Elliot bursts into laughter while everyone else stares at Ana in shock. She glowers at me and then stands up.

"May I have a word in private with you, Christian? Now." She doesn't even give me a chance to respond as she walks away towards the living room and out the back door.

I throw my napkin on the table and grudgingly get up, ignoring everyone's stares and Elliot's laughter.

I step out onto the deck after closing the door, and walk down the steps to the lawn and near the boathouse. Ana's pacing back and forth, an aggravated expression on her face. She looks up and glares at me as I approach.

"I was this close to punching you in the fucking face, Christian Grey!" She holds up her hand, her thumb and forefinger pinched close together. "I mean, are you insane? My father was in there, do you think I would like him to hear about my sex life—never mind that we've never had sex, but still! You crossed the fucking line!" she seethes.

I watch her as she paces before me. "Well, what would you have liked me to tell them, Ana? That it was true that I was screwing a different girl every night for a week while I've been supposedly dating you for three years? I don't think that would have gone down well."

She glares at me. "You could've come up with a different excuse, Christian! Do you know how humiliating that was? Now your whole family—and my father—are going to think I'm a freak!"

"It's not like they don't think that already," I mutter.

She stops pacing and glares at me, stepping closer. "Excuse me? What did you just say?"

"Nothing."

She purses her lips so tightly they're white. "Either you tell them that what you said was total bullshit, or I'll tell them that you're playing them to get money." She places her hands on her hips and defiantly lifts her chin.

I glower at her, and through clenched teeth, say, "And what exactly would you like me to tell them?"

"I don't know. I've heard you're an intelligent man—or should I say little boy, although I've yet to see or hear anything intelligent about you."

I laugh bitterly. "Oh and you think you're just so bright? Mia told me that you applied to Notre Dame and they rejected you, but I'm sure you're used to rejection, right?"

Her face drops and anger and hurt burns in her eyes. I immediately regret my words.

"Fuck you, Christian!" she yells at me, her voice cracking. "You can find someone else who is more worthy to play this stupid game with you because I'm done!" She doesn't give me a chance to respond as she runs across the lawn to her house and disappears inside.

"Fuck." I sigh and run my hands through my hair and over my face as I hang my head.

Maybe she was right. Maybe I should just give up and find some other career path to follow. I stand there for a few more moments not sure what to really do or say. If I go back inside my family's going to ask where Ana is and how will I explain what happened. I could lie again and say she got a call from someone and had to be somewhere, but I can see that coming back to bite me in the ass.

I throw my head back and look up at the unusual cloudless sky and look to the heavens for a divine intervention of some sort. The thought of giving up on something I've wanted for so long leaves me feeling empty and pathetic. But what can I do without the start-up money? Nothing. I need the money but have no clue how to get it other the plan the plan that I have—or had.

I happen to glance over to my right when I see movement out of the corner of my eye. I'm surprised to see Ana walking back towards me. I stare shocked at her as she stops and stands in front of me. I can still see the anger still simmering in her eyes when she looks at me.

She takes a deep breath before she speaks. "I'm very, very angry with you," she begins. "But we had a deal and no matter how much I hate your guts, I'm sticking to it, but I want to make a tiny change."

I raise a brow. "I want to increase my half to 45%."

I choke on my spit. "No way." I shake my head. "I'll go only to 25%."

She narrows her eyes. "Fine. 30%." she counters. "Take it or leave it, Christian Grey."

I glower at her and then roll my eyes. "Deal," I grunt. I happen to see shadows through the windows by the patio door and know my family's watching. "Smile and give me a hug."

"What?"

"My family's watching. Smile at me and then run into my arms like it's actually possible to love me," I mutter.

She rolls her eyes and scoffs. "As if." I glare at her, but she ignores me and does as I ask.

Plastering a bright smile on her face she bounces into my embrace. I wrap my arms around her, and to make it more believable I spin her around. I smile a genuine smile when she begins to giggle. I stop spinning abruptly when I feel her wrap her legs around me to get a better grip on me, and feel her heat soak into my clothes and warm my skin.

She looks down at me with a bewildered expression when I look up at her. "What?" she asks.

I shake my head and slowly loosen my grip on her so she gently slides down my body. I clear my throat and look away from her. "Nothing." I run my hand through my hair as I gather my sudden befuddled thoughts. "Ana, I'm sorry what I said to you earlier. I didn't mean it. That was really low of me and I crossed the line. I'm sorry."

She stares at me. "Wow, I thought it was totally unheard of for the Great Christian Grey to do something as humble as apologizing."

I sigh in exasperation. "Can't you just say you accept my apology so I can stop feeling like a guilty ass?"

She smirks. "I bet you feel like that all the time, but sure, I accept your apology. But don't think I won't get you back for it."

I sigh and lick my lips. "Thanks."

She presses her lips together and nods. We stand there awkwardly for a moment not sure what to do or say.

"Uh, should we go back inside?" I ask.

She glances at my house and shakes her head, grimacing at the thought. "No." She takes a deep breath and gazes at me for a couple of seconds. "I think we should go somewhere and get our story straight, so when they ask questions we can give them the same agreed upon answer."

I shrug my shoulders. "Good idea. Where should we go?"

She smirks at me. "I have the perfect place." She holds out her hand for me to take and leads me back into my house.

When we get back into the dining room everyone is idly chatting about incoherent blabber, trying to hide the fact they were eavesdropping.

"Christian and I have to be somewhere and won't be back for a couple hours," Ana announces.

Ray looks at her, his eyes hard. "And where exactly will you be going?"

"To look at honeymoon venues," I blurt. "Papa said he wants the wedding next week, so . . ."

I glance at him. He's staring at me impassively.

"I have the perfect place for you, son, come here," Gramps says.

I let go of Ana's hand and lean down so he can whisper in my ear. He winks at me when he tells me the address of what he thinks will be the perfect place. I grin down at him. Why can't Papa be like him? I love my grandpa Theo.

"We'll check it out," I promise him.

"Anastasia, can I have a word with you," Ray says. He glances at me. "I'd like a word with you, too, Christian."

I only nod my head, the fear of what Ray Steele could do to me choking me up.

He gets up and walks out of the dining room and towards the foyer. Ana and I follow him to the library on the other side of the house.

He closes the door behind him and turns around. "I would like to know why I wasn't informed of this relationship between you two," he demands, giving both of us a hard look.

"Daddy, we didn't tell anyone."

"So that means I shouldn't have known? Ana, you're my only daughter—my only child, how do you think it makes me feel that I didn't know about this thing between you two. Especially knowing you've never been in a real relationship before."

I take a quick glance at Ana. I didn't know she's never had a boyfriend. She doesn't look at me.

She sighs and her shoulders sag. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you, but we just wanted it to be about us. We didn't want any interference and plus you know how Christian's family is. They would be down our throats twenty-four/seven. It wouldn't have been fair if we told you and not them."

Ray sighs and stares at his daughter. "I just can't believe my baby girl is getting married. I thought I had a little while longer to be the only man in your life."

She steps into his arms. "You may not be the only man in my life anymore but you'll always be my daddy."

Ray leans down as he hugs Ana tight and rests his chin atop her head. I feel like I'm intruding on a private moment and am tempted to step out of the room, but Ray's quick look in my direction halts me.

"I'm not sure if I'm happy you're taking away my baby girl away from me when I've barely had time to come to terms with this. But I don't think she could have found a better young man than you, Christian."

I raise my brow and clear my throat. I wasn't expecting that. I pictured myself leaving in an ambulance.

"Thank you, sir."

He chuckles. "No need for formalities. I don't think you've ever called me sir in your life." He takes my hand and shakes it, then pulls me into a brief hug. "Take care of my daughter."

I nod my head. "I will," I say.

He takes a deep breath and smiles tightly at us. I think I see him tearing up. "Now you two get out of here. And just a word to the wise—something I wish someone told me when I was your age—cherish the good days and the bad days, but don't let the small stuff get in the way of your happiness. Life goes by too fast to be unhappy. I learned that lesson the hard way."

I feel despair wash over me. Ray's wife Carla died in a car accident over ten years ago. I know he loved her, even though he doesn't talk about it. Ana doesn't talk about it either. I think it's still a delicate subject—not that I could blame them.

"Daddy," Ana whispers. I can hear the sadness in his voice.

He waves his hand dismissively and forces a smile. "Don't worry about me. Go," he urges. "Have fun, be young."

Ana hugs him one last time, and I shake his head as we all leave the library.

"We'll be back later, Daddy," Ana tells him.

He nods his head. "Keep my daughter safe, Christian."

"Yes, s-Ray."

He smiles at me and walks back to the dining room. Ana grabs my hand and pulls me out the door.

"My car's in the shop at the moment. We'll have to use yours. Give me your keys."

I scoff. "Yeah, right. Like I'd let you wreck my car, knowing you just wrecked yours."

"I didn't wreck it, you ass. It needed to be worked on."

I laugh. "As if I'm really going to believe that. Get in the passenger seat. I'll drive, you tell me where to go."

She huffs out an annoyed breath. "Fine."

We both get into the car and I start the engine. Before I pull out I look at her.

"So where are we going?"

She smirks at me. "It's a surprise."

I roll my eyes knowing I'm probably going to regret going anywhere alone with this woman.

 **Bonus! You guys have been incredible so I thought I would give you a little extra.**

 **Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites.**

 **SS &G xoxo**

 **Diamondchild-your question will be answered in chapter 14 ;)**


	7. Escapes

**Chapter Seven-Escapes**

I park the car where gravel meets grass and turn off the engine. I turn to look at Ana incredulously. She grins.

"Where the hell did you take us?" I ask her. "This is all forest."

"Well since you asked, I was planning on killing you and burying your body out here."

I look at her. She has a serious expression on her face and for a moment I honestly think she's not lying. I feel a small frisson of fear race through my blood. I knew this girl was fucking evil.

She bursts into laughter. "You should totally see your face," she laughs, pointing at me. "C'mon." She opens her door and leaps out. "I'm not gonna kill you. I wouldn't want my favorite spot tainted by your toxic blood, now would I?"

I roll my eyes as I step out of the car. She begins walking through a tiny path surrounded by tall trees and bushy shrubs. I follow her, secretly hoping she knows where she's going. It feels like ages since we've been walking and we're still completely surrounded by forest. I'm just about to ask her if she knows where she's going, when the trees open up to a grassy cliff. I stop at the threshold of the forest and gaze out over the sparkling pacific. Ana stops at the edge of the cliff and sits down, her hair gently blowing in the wind. She turns around and smiles at me, patting the grass beside her. I feel my heart race when I realize I've never seen a more beautiful scene—or woman.

I sit down next to her, staring out over the water, admiring the sun as it floats over the horizon.

"How did you find this place?" I ask after a few minutes of silence.

She doesn't say anything for a minute. She lets out a long breath before she speaks. "It was two weeks before Prom, and I still hadn't gotten my dress yet. All my friends were bragging about how they had already found the perfect dresses, and how their moms went dress shopping with them. I was so jealous. They had a chance to go pick the perfect dresses with their mothers and mine was dead." She stops for a moment and just gazes out at the water. I stare at her. I've never heard her speak so candidly about how she felt about her mother's passing. "Then I got to thinking about how I will never be able to do a lot of things with my mother. Never get to share the joy of celebrating holidays or birthdays. Never get to ask her questions about boys. Never get to ask her opinions about which career path I should take . . . Never get to go shopping for my wedding dress." She glances at me and give me a small sad smile. "I was so sad, and I just didn't want to think, so I just drove. I drove and drove until I came to this place. I decided I wanted some fresh air, so I just walked and thought about nothing, trying to deal with the pain I was feeling. I ended up finding this place. And I thought it was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I sat here for hours and hours. Doing nothing, thinking about everything . . . talking to my mom." She takes a deep breath and shakes her head, looking down at her feet. Shrugging her shoulders, she adds, "Now whenever I want to think or just be alone for a little I come out here."

I don't say anything for a moment because I'm not sure what to say. I've never been in this situation before with Ana—or with any girl, really. I end up just grabbing her hand and squeezing it. I smile at her when she looks at me.

"Thank you for bringing me here. I agree, it's the most beautiful place I've seen." She nods and smiles, then turns away, slipping her hand from mine. "Your mom would be proud of you, Ana," I blurt, wanting to cheer her up. I can't stand it when she looks so sad.

She turns to me with tears in her eyes. "You think so?" she asks.

I nod my head enthusiastically. "Of course, it would be impossible for her not to be. You're graduating a year early, with honors. You already know what you want to do with your life. And you're smart and caring and generous and loving—well when you want to be." That earns me a small giggle. I smile. "I'm sure your mother's looking down on you in heaven every day, beaming with pride and happiness that she created something so wonderful."

She gazes at me, her eyes burning a bright blue. "No one's ever said something so nice to me," she whispers.

I gaze back at her. "I meant every word."

She bites her lip. My eyes fly to the spot her teeth are holding the plump skin captive. I have the unexplainable burning desire to kiss her again. So I do. I lean over and press my lips against hers, surprising her. She's stiff against me, but when I hold her head in place and move my hand around to her waist, she softens under me. Before I know it she's kissing me back, her lips firm but soft against mine. And so delicious. I've never enjoyed kissing anyone as much as I do kissing her.

She opens her mouth to me and I immediately stick my tongue in her mouth, groaning when she buries her fingers in my hair. Her tongue rubs deliciously against mine, and she moves her body closer. I dig my fingers into her flesh, feeling myself grow hard and hot for her. The thought terrifies me. So much so that I immediately pull back with panting breath. I glance at her but her gaze is avoiding mine.

"I . . . I don't think we should complicate this more than what it already is," she says, her breathing still irregular.

I nod my head.

She takes a deep breath. "Plus, I really can't stand the thought of being . . . intimate with you."

I turn and look at her with a raised brow. She's still avoiding my gaze. I wouldn't necessarily say I couldn't stand the thought of having sex with her, it's just a thought I've never had before. A thought I'm not sure I'm comfortable with having at the moment. I mean it's Ana. I never thought about her in that way. She's always been this bratty little snot in my mind. But as I look at her now I can definitely see her as something other than that bratty little snot I'm used to her being. Now I see her as a woman. A woman I think I'm attracted to. And that scares the shit out of me.

"Yeah, I feel the same," I mutter. I'm not too certain if that was a lie or not.

She clears her throat and straightens her hair, still keeping her gaze away from mine.

"So, um, what's our story?" she asks me, finally looking at me. She looks guarded. There's another emotion hidden in her eyes but I don't know what it is.

"What?" I ask dumbly.

She sighs. "You know, our story. What we're going to tell people about when we got together, how long we've been together, when we fell in love. We need to sort out the details so we're on the same page and not making blunders like you did this morning." She gives me a pointed look.

"I already apologized," I murmur.

She shakes her head. "I don't even want to talk about it. Let's just get this over with so we can get on with our lives."

"Okay," I say slowly. I think for a moment. "Well we already established that we got together when I left for London. We've been together ever since. I proposed to you yesterday. Um, as to when we fell in love . . . uh, we can say something like, during spring break . . . the spring break you went to, what was it? California?" she nods her head. "How long ago was that?"

She thinks about it for a moment. "Um, about two years ago?" She nods her head. "Yeah it was definitely two years ago. Well over two years ago now."

I nod my head. "Okay, so we can say you told everyone that you were going to Cali for spring break when actually you were going to fly to England to see me. Um, we can say I took you to, um, Rome, maybe? Or France for a few days. I wined and dined you, and the night before you flew back home, after making love for hours, we told each other we loved one another."

She pushed her wind-blown hair from her face, nodding her head. "Not bad," she says, slightly impressed. "And let's say France, you know since it's the city of love. And how about we leave the 'making love for hours' part out when we tell our families."

I shrug. "I only added it because I know how much you women love details."

She frowns then sighs. "Ugh, that's true. It's going to suck being all alone with Mia and your mother and they're going to ask me detail upon detail of how it feels like being with you. Or how romantic you are." She groans. "I hope your mother doesn't ask me how good of a lover you are. Mia told me your mom asked Elliot's girlfriend that one time."

I laugh. "My mother would never ask you that. My grandmother on the other hand . . ."

Her face contorts in disgust. "Why in the world would your grandmother want to know how well of a lover you are? And if she does ask me that what am I supposed to say? 'Oh yeah, he's the best I've ever had.'" I laugh again. "I would die of mortification."

"I doubt Nana Beth will ask you that. She'll be too busy hounding you to get pregnant to ask how well I'm satisfying you." Her face goes white. I can't help but laugh again.

She slaps my arm. "That's not funny. I haven't even graduated college yet, I'm too young for kids. Plus you'd be the last person I would ever want a kid with."

"Trust me, the feeling is more than mutual. I don't think I would be able to stick around knowing it would be half human half anti-Christ."

"Ha ha. You know you're the only one who thinks that about me. Everyone else thinks I'm the sweetest thing they've ever met."

I laugh. "Yeah, because that's what you lead them to believe. But I know under that cute innocent act you play is a little demon begging to get out."

She glares at me. I beam at her. "We're getting off topic," she mutters.

"Apparently so."

She takes a deep breath. "Well, actually that's a good point. What are we going to tell people when they ask about kids?"

I swallow apprehensively. The thought of being responsible for a tiny human makes me extremely nervous. "Not for a long, long, long, long time."

"I need an actual frame of time."

"I don't know at least like, five or ten years," I mutter.

"Five or ten years?" she gasps. I look at her and astonishment colors her face. "How long are you expecting me to stay married to you?"

I sigh. "Well it has to be believable. I can't let my family think I'm marrying you just to get my hands on money . . . even though that's what I am doing. But, um, I'd say at least a year."

Her eyebrows shoot up. "A year? Why not six months?"

"Because that's not long enough. My family—mainly my dad and grandpa—would figure out what we were doing. They would know it was a sham of a marriage."

She's quiet for a minute. "Do you get your money right after you're married, or is there like a period you have to wait to get it?"

I frown. "I don't know." I groan and fall back on the grass. "Fuck. I didn't think about that. I'm sure since Papa's the one who opened the trust fund he'll be the one to decide when I get it. Damn it. He could hold it for however long he wants to."

And knowing him he'll be a dick and he'll probably keep it until we can mark our first year anniversary on the calendar. What the hell am I supposed to do then? I was hoping to get my money right away and get started on building my company. The thought of having to wait a year or longer depresses me.

"Well, we'll have to make them believe that we're actually in love so that doesn't happen," Ana says, pulling me from my thoughts.

I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly. I turn my head and look at her. She lies down next to me.

"You think we can really pull it off?"

She shrugs. "Wouldn't hurt to try."

I nod my head and turn my gaze to the sky. I close my eyes and just let the serene calmness flow over me, the harsh sounds of the waves hitting rock below me.

 _God, please I know I've done some very bad things in my life, but I want this so bad. Please, please just give me this one thing. I won't ever ask for anything else. Just please give me this._

 **Sorry for the delay, I came down suddenly with the stomach flu so I've been in recovery most of the week.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews, follows and favorites. You guys brighten my day.**

 **SS &G xoxo**

 **P.S. who's excited for the premiere of 50 shades darker? Eek! I'm practically giddy with uncontrollable anticipation. I hope it's as good as the trailer looks. Happy watching, I know I'll be having a good time ;)**


	8. Gifts

**Chapter Eight-Gifts**

I take a deep breath as I look at myself in the mirror. I can't believe I'm getting married tomorrow. And to Anastasia Steele. I never saw myself getting married. And if I thought I ever was I would have never thought that Ana would be the one I would be with up at the altar.

The past week has gone by in a blink in the eye. Ana and I discussed a few more details about what we'll tell our families on the way home from that cliff. But after that, everything has just been a blur.

We got back home and my mother immediately jumped Ana and I as soon as we walked through the door. She and Mia had apparently been planning details of our wedding, which I guess was necessary since we would be saying our vows in a week. Ana and I sat down with my mother for five hours as she asked us about all the things we wanted for our wedding. Who would have even known someone would care about what kind of champagne glasses they would be drinking from?

My mother was adamant that she wanted the wedding in the backyard, and who were we to deny her of that. Plus it was easier to let her decide rather than going back and forth ourselves. The only time we got stumped is when we came to the guest list. Neither Ana nor I had very many people to invite, and we decided the less the better. Why would we want to share a sham of a wedding with hundreds of people? The guest list ended up being fewer than thirty people, which neither Ana or I had a problem with.

Mia was disappointed when Ana picked Katherine Kavanagh as her Maid of Honor, because I chose Elliot as my best man, but she eventually got over it when I reminded her that I'm letting her plan our wedding. And then there were the scrutinizing stares and odd remarks from my grandfather and father, doubting my love and commitment to Ana. Their lack of faith in me only pushed me harder to prove them wrong. Whenever they were around I was sure to be touchy-feely with Ana and whisper sweet nothings in her ear.

Thinking about it now, I didn't realize how much of a help Ana has really been in pulling this off. She's been playing the love-struck fiancée to a T. I know the hardest part isn't over yet, but she's been a big help in getting us here.

My attraction towards her hasn't lessened. It's intensified. We've had to kiss a lot, making our families believe that we are in love, and each time my lips find hers I feel like keeping them there forever. And she always smells so good. Like fresh-picked roses. It drives me insane. Mainly because I don't want to be attracted to her; I don't think she's attracted to me. Not that I care of course, but it's always nice to feel wanted. Whether me wanting to feel wanted by Ana or just in general by any woman has still yet to be decided.

"You look good, bro," Elliot says, coming up from behind me and placing his hands on my shoulders. He gazes at us in the mirror. "Who picked the colors?"

"Ana. Why?"

He shakes his head. "I wasn't expecting pink, is all."

I smirk. "It's actually rose gold."

"Call it what you want, it's pink."

I laugh. "Don't worry, I said the same thing. But I wanted Ana to have her first wedding be her dream wedding even though it isn't real."

He frowns. And I immediately realize my mistake. I try to walk away but he grabs my arm.

"What did you just say?" he asks quietly.

I give him a lost look. "I didn't say anything." I try to walk away again, but he pulls me back.

"Cut the shit, bro. Did you just say this wasn't a real wedding?"

I stare at him for a moment, deciding whether I can trust him or not.

I sigh and bow my head. "You can't tell anyone," I whisper.

"Just tell me, Christian."

My shoulders slump forward. "I asked Ana to marry me so I can get Papa's trust fund early."

He stares at me. "Are you serious right now?"

I gaze blankly at him.

He shakes his head and steps back away from me. "So you're telling me this whole time you and Ana have been playing all of us just so you can get your money?" I don't say anything. "Well you sure as hell fooled me," he mutters, surprising me. "I mean at first I was a little skeptical, you know, because I had just told you about the trust fund and next thing we know you come prancing in with Ana as your fiancée. But then as I watched you two together, when you weren't arguing or insulting each other, I thought I really saw something between you guys." He shakes his head again. "I can't believe this is all fake. And that Ana actually agreed to it. How did you get her to agree?"

"I offered her a percentage."

His eyebrows shoot up. "And she's actually going to take it?"

I nod. He shakes his head.

He sighs loudly. "Well I guess you gotta do what you gotta do to get where you want."

I look up at him. "You're not gonna tell anyone, are you?"

He gazes at me for a moment. "Nah, I think I want to see how this naturally plays out. But just between you and me, bro, fake wedding or not, I wouldn't let Ana go. I sure as hell wouldn't." He winks at me and begins to walk out my room, but stops and turns around. "Oh, by the way Gramps wants to see you in dad's office."

"Alright. And thanks, Elliot, you know, for not saying anything."

"No problem. Just do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Just be happy."

I blink at him. "Okay," I say slowly.

He smiles and walks out of the room. I frown at him as he leaves. I know I'm not happy all the time, but I don't think I'm an unhappy person. Just unhappy about not having the people or money I need to build my dreams.

I shake my head and change out of the outfit I will be wearing tomorrow as I promise myself to Ana forever. Jeez, what a daunting thought. I wonder who came up with the idea of marriage. Why would someone want to stay committed and spend every night and day with the same person for the rest of their lives? I don't get it.

I go downstairs and knock on my dad's home office door. I wait till I hear I can come in, and then walk into the room.

"Close the door, son," Gramps says as he sits behind my dad's desk.

I do as he asks and then walk to stand in front of the mahogany wood. He looks up at me, a proud smile softening his face.

"Take a seat."

I sit down with my eyes focused on him. I stay quiet and wait for him to tell me what he wants.

He looks at me through squinted eyes. "Did you give Ana an engagement ring?"

The blood drains from my face when I realize I didn't. I didn't even think about that with all the commotion going around. I mean, even if I wanted to I wouldn't have been able to afford it. I'm marrying her to get money. I can't buy a diamond ring with air.

"I didn't think so, but then again I wasn't expecting you to. Your grandmother was very displeased when she saw Ana's finger was diamond-less. Even more displeased that it took her six days before the wedding to realize it." He chuckles and shakes his head. "That woman is something else. Anyway she told me to give you this to give to Ana. I decided to give you something, too."

He holds his hand out. I place my hand under his as he drops something into the palm of my hand. I look down and pick up the diamond encrusted engagement and wedding bands and a man's wedding band. I look up at him.

"That was your grandmothers. It was the first engagement ring I bought her before I bought her the one she wears now. And that wedding band was mine before I got the one I have now."

"Gramps . . ." I whisper.

"You think Ana will like it?"

"Yes. It's beautiful."

He nods his head. "Custom made."

I gaze down at the ring fascinated. I've never seen a ring like it before. It has a big square diamond in the middle, but on either side are two rubies held in by prongs that form the shape of a heart. Etched on the band are delicate swirls. The wedding band is silver with tiny diamonds planted firmly all around the ring. It's so simple, yet so exquisite. I smile. This ring reminds me of Ana. It's just like her.

What will be my wedding ring is a silver band with three sections. The middle section is a dark steel color, and spaced evenly around that are two thin strips that are embedded with very tiny diamonds. I like it just because it was his.

"Good, now that that's settled." He slides over two silver keys across the desk. I frown as I put the rings in my pocket.

I pick up the keys and examine them with a frown. "What are these to?"

He doesn't answer me, just slides over a piece of paper. I read the top of it and my eyes instantly fly to his.

"You're giving me your house?" I ask him incredulously.

He nods with a smile on his face. "I figured after you and your bride return from your honeymoon you would like your own house to come back to."

I stare at him in shock. "But . . . this is your house."

"Once you sign this it won't be anymore."

I shake my head. "I'm not signing this. I can't take your house, Gramps!"

"You can and you will," he says.

"No. Where will you and Grams live? I can't just take your house."

He laughs. I look at him like he's crazy. "Son, your grandmother and I will be living only a few houses down from you." I look at him confused. "We bought another house. A smaller house. There's too much space and it's getting harder walking up and down the stairs with our old bones. Plus it'll be big enough for you and Ana when you have your own family."

I shake my head, my brain not comprehending the significance of this.

"But . . ."

"Christian, you know I'm not going to let you leave without signing this, so you might as well stop stalling and write your signature along the line."

I gaze up at him. I want to say so much to him but none of it comes out. I think I'm still in shock. I stare down at what will be the deed to my house, and I feel myself tense up. He's expecting me to live here with Ana. Expecting us to start a family here. Jesus, what would he say if he found out all of this was just to get to my trust fund? He would be crushed. Disappointed. Ashamed.

I can't do this. This is going too far. I can't accept this stuff knowing I'm not being honest when he's being so generous, so loving.

And then what would happen when the year is over and Ana and I separate? What will I do then? It's supposed to be a family home, but then I'll be the only one living there . . . or maybe not.

I pick up the pen he slides over and sign Ana's name. I pass it over back to him. He reads it and then gazes up at me. A slow smile crosses the lips. He lays the paper down on the desk and gazes at me.

"You and I are alike, did you know that?"

I clear my throat. "No."

"Well we are. What you just did, I did the same thing when Maggie's father offered me his house before we got married." He chuckles and then grins, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "The things we do for the women we love. We give up and sacrifice so much to keep them happy, because having them unhappy is just completely unacceptable. I'm telling you this because that young woman of yours is something to hold on to. Not many are like her; she's one in a million. And coming from a man who's made many mistakes in his marriage, just remember one important thing: if you love her, nothing else is more important than that love. Just keep that in mind when things get tough, and they will, but then again life has this way of always working itself out."

He smiles at me, stands up and walks over to me. I stand up to. He shakes my hand and pulls me into a hug. "I'm so proud of you, boy. I'm excited to see you take this new exciting step forward. And I know you'll do incredible things."

He steps back while I try to keep my emotions under control. "Wow," I rasp out. "I don't know what to say, Gramps." I look up at him. I admire this man so much. "I don't think words are enough. I don't know how to show my genuine gratitude for this." I glance down at the keys in my hand.

He smiles and pats my cheek. "Just live your life, son. And be happy. Nothing in life is worth anything unless it makes you happy, and that's what I want for you: genuine happiness."

"I want that too," I whisper. I don't realize how true my words are until I say them out loud.

He steps away from me and walks towards the door. "Now go give your future wife her ring before the girls steal her away for the night." He winks at me.

I chuckle. "Alright."

I walk out of the door with Gramps following me, and when we step into the hallway I turn to him. Without hesitating I give him a full hug, wrapping arms around his shoulders.

"Thanks you for believing in me, Gramps," I whisper.

He pats my back affectionately. "You're more than welcome, son. Now go, your fiancée is going to disappear in a few ours and the women won't let you see her." He laughs.

I smile, trying to gather myself, and then walk away without looking back.

 **Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites.**

 **SS &G xoxo**

 **I saw Darker yesterday. I was sooo disappointed. As a movie itself it was incredible, it was romantic, sexy with just enough drama and suspense. But based off the book it was sorely lacking. They left out so much, I mean they only included a few main scenes of the book. There just wasn't enough details. Ugh, whatever I guess there's only so much you can put into a two hour movie based off a 500 page book. I thought Jamie and Dakota did amazing though, they're so funny and cute.**

 **Real quick, I know you some of you want longer chapters, but since this is already pre-written and it's meant to be short, the chapters aren't really going to get longer. I'll just have to update more frequently I guess ;)**


	9. Secrets

**Chapter Nine-Secrets**

I knock on Ana's front door and Ray answers.

He smirks at me. "If you're looking for her, she's not here."

"Where is she then?"

"Hell if I know. Your sister came over a couple hours ago and practically kidnapped her." He chuckles and looks down at me. "Is there something you wanted? I can give her the message when she comes back—if she comes back."

"Uh, no, that's okay. It's something I need to talk to only her about. I'll come back later," I say. I turn around intending to go back home, but he stops me.

"How about you come in, son. I'd like to talk to you about something."

"Um, okay," I mutter, inwardly groaning. I can already guess what he wants to talk to me about.

He guides me inside and leads me to his living room. Ray's house isn't as large as my parent's house, but it's still pretty spectacular inside. I would think that's due to Ana. She keeps things simple, yet it's the simple things that are most beautiful. Like her.

We sit down across from each other in his suede loveseats, and he pours both of us a glass of brandy. Handing a glass to me, he asks, "Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

I think about it for a moment. I hadn't really given tomorrow that much thought, but now when I picture myself standing in front of close friends and family giving my vows to Ana, yet knowing I don't mean a word of what I would be promising, does make me a little nervous.

I glance at him and nod my head. "Just a bit," I say.

He chuckles. "Yeah, I was nervous the day of my wedding, and I remember how nervous your father was." He stops and shakes his head at the memory, then sighs wistfully. "It's natural to feel nervous. And your nervousness just proves how important tomorrow will be."

I nod my head. "I'm more worried about messing up the vows," I joke.

He laughs. "I remember when I was at your fathers wedding, he was so nervous yet so excited to marry your mother, he got tongue-tied multiple times." He laughs again. "It was a delight to see, how much he loves you mother." He gazes at me, and then smiles. "The same look I see on your fathers face when he looks at Gracie is the same look I've seen on your face each time you look at my Annie. I'm still trying to get used to the idea of you two being together, but it gets easier each time I think about who she's getting married to. I couldn't have chosen anyone better for her."

He suddenly stands up and holds out his hand. I stand up too and place my hand is his. We shake and he pulls me into a brief hug.

"Welcome to the family, Christian."

I clear my throat as I feel my emotions and guilt take over my body for the second time today. He pulls back and grins at me.

"Thank you, Ray. I promise I'll look after your baby girl."

He laughs and grips my shoulder. "I know you will, only because I know my Annie will make sure you do."

That brings a smile to my face. Ana can be an aggressive, formidable woman when she really wants to, and it's best to just stay out of her way when or cave and give her what she wants when she's on one of her tirades.

I chuckle. "Yes, I'm certain she will." I smile at him and then look at my wrist watch, noting the time. "Well, I would love to stay and chat some more, but I have to settle a few more things before tomorrow. If Ana comes back you'll tell her I need to speak with her?"

He nods. "Sure will. Now go enjoy your night as a bachelor for the last time," he says as he leads me to the door.

He winks at me as I say my last good byes and thank him again, and then walk back towards my house. When I walk through my door I see people rushing around, trying to get things in order for tomorrow, while I hear my mother and Mia giving people strict orders of what goes where and who does what. I don't want to be around any of the chaos, so I grab a bottle of Jack Daniels and go to my room.

I'm drinking from the bottle as I lay lazily on my bed, thinking about how my life is about to change. Whether it's for the good or worse, I'm still debating.

I think about the house that Ana and I will move into when we get back from our honeymoon. Then I think about what will be our honeymoon. People do nothing but fuck on their honeymoons; I have no idea what Ana and I will be doing. Earlier during the week Ana and I checked out the place that Gramps suggested and Ana and I immediately agreed that it was the perfect place. We booked a week-long stay in the cabins at the Metolius River Resort in Camp Sherman, Oregon. The cabins are nestled in the trees along a narrow river, and the cabins are small and cozy and romantic. I think Ana fell in love with the place the minute she saw it. I just want to give Ana what she wants considering what she's giving up for me, plus I think it's in my best interest to keep her happy. I've seen her upset and it's not a pretty sight.

My thoughts come to a halt when Elliot barges into my room. He stand at the threshold and gazes at me with a bewildered look.

"Bro, what are you doing laying in bed? I know this may not be a real wedding, but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun before you give up your title of bachelor."

I groan. "I don't want to go out. I just want to go to sleep, get tomorrow over with and then put all of this behind me."

He frowns and steps further into my room. "What's wrong? You look like someone just told you your puppy died."

I sit up, sighing as I run my hand through my hair. "I don't think I can do this," I tell him.

His frown deepens. "Do what?"

"This. The marriage, the lies. I'm lying to everyone, Elliot. I'm lying to Gramps and Ray, and they've been so generous and seem so happy . . . I can't stand the thought of them finding out what's really going on. They'd be devastated. I can't do that to them." I shake my head and take another swig from my bottle.

He sighs and sits at the end of my bed. He doesn't say anything for a moment. "If you don't want to do it then don't."

I gaze at him. "What?"

"If you don't want to go through with this tomorrow then don't," he repeats.

"But then what would I tell everyone? That I just changed my mind? I don't want to get married anymore? That'll just cause more problems than what there already are." That and how would I get my company started?

He shrugs. "Then don't tell them and go through with the wedding. It's simple, bro. Either you want to do this or you don't. If you want to do it, then do it. If you don't ,then don't. You're not always going to make everyone in your life happy, so why not just focus on making yourself happy." He stares at me for a moment. "Will marrying Ana tomorrow make you happy?"

"Yes," I answer immediately, startling myself. Whether I'll be happy because I'll be getting money from this marriage, or if I'll be happy because I'll be marrying Ana is a thought I don't want to dwell on at the moment.

He grins at me. "Well then there you go. You have your answer." He stands up and pulls the bottle from my hand. "Now come on and get up, I'm taking you out to celebrate your last night as a single man."

I roll my eyes but do as he asks, thinking that a night out with my brother will be good for me.

Six hours later, Elliot helps me out of the cab we had to take home because we're both too sotted to drive. I can't stop laughing as we lean on each other walking up to the front door. Elliot can't get his keys into the lock, mainly because he can't focus and we're both laughing so hard at only God knows what that we're shaking and stumbling over each other.

We both pitch forward when Gramps opens up the door and looks at us with amusement.

"Jesus, Elliot, I told you to take him out for only a few drinks. I bet you two drunks drank whatever bar you went to out of business."

I laugh again, only because I can't stand on my feet steady enough to look him in the eye, and all I see are his pajamas with cartoon cigars on them.

I snicker. "Gra . . . amps, I-I din't know you liked cig-cigers."

Elliot laughs next to me and ends up falling over into the bushes. I look at him like I have no idea how the hell he got down there then look at Gramps.

"Lelliot went down." I laugh and then turn away and walk back down the driveway, tripping over my feet.

I hear Elliot call out for me. "Christin! Don't . . . don't leaf me!"

I throw my head back in laughter but ignore him as I continue on to my destination. I have a very strong urge to see Ana.

I hear someone else call out to me. "Christian, boy, where are you going?"

I turn around in time to see Gramps helping Elliot out of the bushes.

I cup my hands around my mouth and yell. "Ana. I going to see An-na."

"Wait, Christian. Don't go over there," I hear him say, but I continue to walk across our yard until I'm standing in Ana's back yard. I pick up a few pebbles and try to throw them at her balcony doors. I miss the first five times but the sixth time I think I throw it too hard that I cracked the glass. A minute later, I see the curtains move and Ana's face appears through the glass. She frowns down at me and then opens the door.

I grin when I see her loose hair around her shoulders and a silk robe clinging to her body.

"Ana!" I scream.

She cringes and then closes the door in a rush behind her then turns back around to look at me. She puts her finger to her lips and shushes me.

"Jeez, be quiet, Christian! Kate and Mia are over here and they don't want me to see you," she tells me. "What do you want?" she asks.

"I'm . . . I need to till you s-someting," I call up to her, trying to keep my voice low but failing.

She frowns at me. "Are you drunk?"

I nod my head. "Drunk for you."

"What?"

"Come down . . . come to the ground. I half to t-tell you someting," I repeat.

I hear her groan. "Jesus. Stay there, Christian, I'll be down in a moment."

She turns around and disappears into her room. I sway on my feet as the wind gently blows, and what feels like only seconds later, I see Ana walking towards me.

I grin when I see her and hold out my arms. She pushes them back down to my sides when she comes to stand in front of me.

"An-na," I say, enunciating her name.

She sighs and nods her head. "Yes, my name is Ana, and yours is Christian, now tell me what you want."

I take unsteady steps towards her until I have her wrapped in my arms. I feel her struggle out of my grasp, but she stops wiggling when she realizes I'm not letting her go.

I moan as I bury my nose in her hair and sniff loudly. "You smell so oh good," I mutter into her hair.

I feel her slightly shake against me as she giggles.

"Thank you. Is that what you wanted to tell me?" she asks.

I shake my head. "Uh uh." I pull back, but keep my hands on her shoulders. I gaze down at her with a smile. She just stares up at me expectantly. "You're beautiful," I tell her. Her face lights up in surprise, and then a slight blush steals her cheeks. I laugh. "I love your blush." I rub my finger down the side of her face and lean close to her ear. "Can I tell you a sea . . . secret?"

She giggles again. I smile. "Okay," she says.

I lean real close to her ear, push her hair out of the way after I take a few strands into my fist and put it under my nose. I inhale deeply and close my eyes as I breathe in the wonderful scent of her hair, then I exhale through my mouth, my breath blows against her face. She's looking at me out of the corner of her eye, a weird expression on her face and amusement in her eyes.

Putting my mouth close against her ear I whisper loudly, "I'm falling in love with you."

She stiffens in my arms and looks up at me in astonishment. "What?" she breathes.

I dig in my pocket and pull out the rings Gramps gave me and place them in her hand.

I laugh when I look up at her and then last thing I remember is hearing her call my name as I completely pass out.

 **This is halfway over. I'll try to update at least every other day, unless I can't.**

 **Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites.**

 **SS &G xoxo**

 **emi17-Grandpa Grey (Papa) is the one who has the trust fund. Grandpa Trevelyan (Gramps) is the one who gave him the rings and house. I hope that clears up any confusion.**


	10. Denials

**Chapter Ten-Denials**

I groan and rub my eyes, trying to block out the sunlight. I sit up and feel my body ache and my head pound. When I finally find the courage to open my eyes, I look around and realize that I'm not in my bed. I'm in Ray's living room. I frown as I look around. What the hell happened last night?

I get up and stretch. I notice I'm in the same clothes I wore yesterday and my jeans have grass stains on them. I groan again as I try to remember once more what happened the night before and how the hell I ended up in Ray's living room.

"Look who's finally awake."

I turn around when I see Elliot walking towards me in his suit.

"I was just coming down to wake you up," he tells me. I frown at him. How does he look so fresh? I feel like shit and I know I have to look like it.

"What's going on? Why are we here?" I ask him.

He smirks as he goes into the kitchen and gets a glass of water. "Well after we got home from the bar, you decided that you wanted to give your _fiancée_ one last kiss as unmarried people, and then you just passed out. Or at least that's what I was told." He takes a sip. "Anyways, Ana said she didn't want to wake anyone up to help you get inside so she just dragged you in and threw you on the couch, apparently."

My eyes widen in surprise. "She _dragged_ me in here?" I glance down at my ruined pants. "Well I guess that would explain the stains."

He nods. "Anyway you were completely out of it. I tried to wake you up like an hour ago but you were dead." He laughs. "We got so trashed last night."

"It doesn't look like you're suffering from the effects of it," I mumble.

"Yeah, well I've had years of practice. Anyway, since no one could get you up the girls decided to get ready at mom's and the men here." He glances at me. "By the way you better wash up and get ready. The ceremony starts in," he looks at his watch, "two hours and mom will have your balls if she saw you like this."

"You mean she doesn't know that we got trashed last night?" I ask.

He scoffs. "She would have a heart attack if she knew how fucked-up you were before the biggest day of your life." He grins at me. "You ready for this, bro?"

I sigh. "I don't know. Right now I feel like crawling into a hole." I glance at him. "I don't know how you're so bright and alert."

He laughs and then goes into the kitchen to retrieve something from the cabinet and gets another glass of water.

"Take this," he says, dropping two pills in my hand in handing me the glass of water.

I toss them into my mouth and wash it down with a big gulp of water. I hand him the glass and he turns around to put it into the sink. I find it slightly amusing how we're so comfortable at Ray's house. We were here a lot when we were younger so it's not that surprising.

"Better?" Elliot asks. I nod my head. "Good. Your tux is upstairs in the guestroom." He looks at me up and down. "I suggest you take a shower though, before you put it on. Wouldn't want your bride cringing away from you in disgust," he jokes.

I roll my eyes. "Like I would really go to my own wedding without taking a shower first."

"Well who knows with you."

I just shake my head and walk away.

Thirty minutes later I'm out of the shower and dressed in a tux, ready for the day that will pave the way for the rest of my life. I take a deep breath as I gaze at myself in the mirror. Shit. I feel the nerves kicking in. In little over an hour I will be standing in front of family and friends vowing to love someone who has agreed to help me deceive my family.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath as I try to rationalize all the negative possibilities floating through my mind. So many things can go wrong today. The worst of it would be my family finding out about this lie, and knowing that I bribed Ana into helping me. I could see my head hanging proudly above Ray's fire place if he found out how I'm essentially using his daughter to get what I want. But despite how I really want to feel I do care about Ana. I care about her a lot. Maybe more than I would like to admit.

I'm straightening my tie when I hear shouting and commotion going on downstairs. I leave the guestroom to go see what all the chaos is about.

I find my mom, Kate and Mia hounding Elliot and Ray asking them jumbled questions all at once.

"What's going on?" I ask, walking closer to them.

Everyone's looking at me with pale faces and wide eyes. No one answers me so I glare at them and repeat my question.

The girls all look at each other and Ray and Elliot are gazing at them, waiting for them answer me. My mom steps forward and takes my hands in hers. I look at her cautiously, knowing she's about to deliver bad news.

"Ana's gone missing," she says frantically, then takes a deep breath. "We can't find her anywhere. The ceremony starts in an hour and everyone's already arrived . . ."

I stare at her. "Well when was the last time you saw her and where?"

Kate steps forward. She gives me a weird look when she answers me. "I was helping her put on finishing touches with her makeup, then she asked me if I could give her a moment of privacy. I thought she had to pee or something, but I stepped out of the room and waited fifteen minutes for her to finish. When I came back into the room she was gone and the balcony doors were open in Mia's room."

"We've looked everywhere," Mia adds. "And none of the cars are gone. No one saw her leave either." She shakes her head. "My balcony faces the woods, she could've gone anywhere without being seen."

I don't say anything as I strut away. My first thought is that maybe she went to the cliff she showed me last week, but I quickly dismiss that thought when I realize Mia said none of the cars were missing. They said they checked everywhere but where exactly is _everywhere_? I'm sure they checked her room, all the guestrooms between both of our houses. They probably checked the lookout tower Ray built in a few years ago attached to Ana's room . . . I wonder if they checked the treehouse in Ray's backyard?

I quickly backtrack and turn back around and slip out the backdoor, quickly pacing towards the big oak tree on the side of Ray's house. I climb the ladder, push up the door and peek my head inside. My body relaxes when I see her pacing back and forth with her hand vigorously rubbing her forehead.

I pull myself up and step into the rather spacious treehouse. From the outside it looks small, but the inside is roomy and comfortable. In the middle is the thick tree trunk, and circling around it is the rectangular wooden floor. There are windows on each wall and up against the walls are custom-made plush brown cushions. Ana was ecstatic when Ray built this for her twelfth birthday. Perks of your father being a successful carpenter with his own business, I guess.

She still hasn't noticed me when I step further inside. I stand and watch her for a moment while unnoticed. She's in her wedding dress, her arms and chest covered in white lace while her back is bare. The entire dress is covered in lace, but from her chest down is a satin-looking dress that hugs her body. Her face is made up with light natural-looking makeup and her hair is pinned up in dainty curls, a lace veil hangs from the bottom of her up-do.

She looks absolutely breathtaking. My breath catches as I gaze at her and I feel my chest stir with an emotion I don't want to acknowledge. I've never seen anything or anyone so beautiful.

She seems to finally realize she's not alone. She jumps and gasps when she sees me. "Christian," she breathes. "W-what are you . . . How did you know I was here?"

I shrug and step towards her. "Lucky guess," I say. "Everyone's looking for you, Anastasia. Why are you hiding up here?"

She stares up at me with wary eyes. I see something else lingering in her eyes. "Christian—I can't do this."

I step closer to her. "Do what?" I ask quietly.

She gestures to herself and me. "This. Us. The wedding. I can't . . . we can't." She looks up at me with a worried expression and begins to pace again.

I grab her shoulders and hold her in front of me. "Whoa, whoa. Calm down. Take a deep breath. In and out." I watch her begin to breathe in and out as I coach her. "Now tell me what's wrong? Why are you saying you can't do this?"

She looks down and shakes he head. "I just can't."

I feel myself getting irritated. She can't back out now. I won't let her. We've come so far, she can't just decide not to do this anymore.

"Why?"

She looks at me with a desperate gleam in her eyes. "Because . . . because it's not right. We're lying to everyone. And . . . and I can't do it. I don't want to lie to everyone. I'm lying to my father and your parents . . . to everyone. I can't . . ."

I look down at her. "You didn't seem to mind that fact in the beginning."

"Yeah, well, now everything's changed," she mutters.

I frown at her. "In what way?"

She tries to pull her arms from my grip. I hold her tighter. "It doesn't matter."

"How can you say that, Ana? Of course it matters, and I'm not letting you back out of this until you give me a logical reason as to why. You made me a promise as I did you. I'm holding up my end, now you hold up yours."

She bows her head. "I'm sorry. I can't do it." She struggles out of my hold.

She tries to walk away and she gets to the edge of the door built into the floor. I snap into action immediately and pull her back further into the room. Her back is against my chest and I wrap my arms around her.

Leaning down close to her ear I say, "I'm not letting you go until you give me a good reason why I should let you back out of this."

"Christian, let me go," she demands, struggling against my hold.

"Answer my question."

"No."

"Then I'm not letting you go. We had a deal, Ana. You know how much this means to me. I need to do this," I plead.

"Why? Why do you want me to do this with you so badly? Why me, Christian?" she asks, and there's an undercurrent to her tone.

I frown. She stops struggling against me so I loosen my hold and turn her around in my arms. She looks up at me with wide apprehensive eyes.

"I've already told you why. No one else would understand the way you would."

She stares at me. "And that's the only reason you want me to do this with you? Because I'm the only one who understands?" she asks wearily.

"Yes, Ana, I thought we already discussed this," I mutter, exasperated.

I don't understand why she's asking me these questions. Or why she seems to be worried about my reasons for doing this. And why this has come up suddenly. She's had an entire week to freak about this, and yet she's doing it an hour before our wedding. Something must've happened to provoke her. But what?

I gaze down at her. "Did something happen? Did someone say something to you?"

She only looks at me, unblinking. She cocks her head to the side as she whispers, "You don't remember what you said to me last night?"

I frown and wrack my brain. I don't remember shit from last night. "No," I say. "Did I say something to upset you?"

She takes a deep breath and looks away from me. An expression crosses her face and I'm having a hard time deciding whether it's relief or disappointment. I think it's a mixture of both.

She looks into my eyes and shakes her head. "No. You didn't say anything to upset me."

"Then what's th-"

She cuts me off with a shake of her head and she says. "I'm sorry; I just had a lapse in judgement. The wedding starts soon. We should get down there."

My mouth slightly falls open and a deep frown mars my face. "What . . .?" I mutter dumbfounded.

"Come on. Your mom and Mia will have a fit if they found out you saw me before the wedding."

She grabs my hand and leads me out of the treehouse, and because I feel so confused and addle-brained, I wordlessly let her guide me down the ladder and back towards the house.

 **Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites.**

 **SS &G xoxo**

 **Happy Valentines Day! It's a day to share love so I hope you've all told someone you love them or have been told you're loved. Have a love-filled evening ;)**


	11. Roses

**Chapter Eleven-Roses**

When Ana and I get back to her back yard, we immediately part ways. I go back to Ray's house and she goes back to my house. I can only imagine the scene my mom and sister will make when they pounce on Ana and bombard her with questions about where she disappeared off to and why.

I don't have a lot of time to myself, because when I step through the doors entering Ray's house, I'm apprehended and then guided back over to my house.

"Did you find Ana?" Elliot asks me.

"Yeah, she was in the old tree house," I whisper to him.

He only nods his head and then turns around, walking back to the house. I turn my attention to other things. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. I wasn't expecting to be here so fast. I have even less time to feel like I'm thinking about my decision when I see my father and grandfather take seats in the front row.

They still don't believe that this wedding is real, which is only cemented by the snide smile my grandfather sends my way. I gaze impassively at him.

We haven't discussed the terms of how I'll receive my trust fund because I don't want to seem eager to get it, even though I am, but I'm sure he'll tell me what he plans to do soon.

I turn my attention away from them and people watch as more guests start filing in. I can't help but smile when I take in the theme of the wedding. It's roses. The color scheme being rose gold, gray and white. There's pale pink and white roses pinned to the back of each chair with gray sheer ribbons wrapped around the stems and extending to the adjacent chair. Behind me are three narrow garden trellis' covered completely in white, pale pink and artificial gray colored roses all mixed together reaching almost six feet high. There's a white wedding runner nestled in between the two sides of chairs and along both sides are small bouquets of alternating pink and gray roses in mini crystal vases. My mother and sister clearly went all out, but I have to admit the place looks beautiful. I hope this is something Ana dreamed of when she thought of her wedding.

Almost fifteen minutes later, people begin to quiet down as music begins to play and the first and only bridesmaid, Katherine Kavanagh, and my best man—Elliot, of course—makes their grand appearance. Ana met Kate in her first semester at WSUV, and since that first meeting they've been best friends. I don't really understand why. Kate can be a tough pill to swallow at times. But she clearly goes down smoothly for Elliot; I see them making suggestive glances at each other. I frown and look at him over my shoulder when he stands behind me and turn back in time to see Kate give me another weird look. I ignore her. I don't know what her problem is.

I turn my attention towards the back of my house when _Here Comes the Bride_ starts to play and everyone stands up. The French doors swing open and out step Ana and Ray. I can't help but grin when I see her flushed face; I think her blush completes the look. She's beautiful.

My eyes are trained on her the entire time she slowly walks down the aisle; I only turn away from her to shake Ray's hand when he hands her over to me. I take her hand as she stands in front of me, looking up at me with wide eyes. I give her a reassuring smile. She gives me a small smile back.

"You look beautiful, Anastasia," I whisper to her.

She surprises me by blushing a darker shade of red but looks up with a small grin. "So do you."

Reverend Walsh officiates the wedding, and in a blink of an eye it feels like, Ana and I are repeating our vows, sliding our bands onto our fingers, and then I'm finally kissing her, our lips sealing the title of man and wife. My lips are still possessively on hers when I hear cheering and laughter fill my ears. I try to ignore it for as long as possible, wanting to enjoy the feeling of my mouth covering hers, but our families but in.

We're congratulated and kissed and passed from person to person. It's a little overwhelming.

The reception lasts longer than I would have liked but I have to admit I enjoyed myself, especially when toasts were made and Elliot made his best man speech. I got a little choked up when Grandpa Theo made his toast, stating that he knew Ana and I were perfect for each other and saying how proud he was of me. He said the words I always wanted to hear from my father when I told him what I wanted to make of myself.

The night was coming to an end when Elliot got drunk of his ass, my grandparents began to slowly disappear inside—except Papa—and Mia began to lose interest when the party vibe died down.

Ana and I were kissed and congratulated once again by our parents. I wait by my car while Ana and Ray have a few words in private and then we're on our way to spend a week in the wilderness of Oregon.

I'm driving down I-5 when I look over at Ana. She's changed into a body-hugging, sleeveless cream dress with a black bow that circles her slim waist and black pumps. She's let her hair down and the soft curls fall down over her breasts. She hasn't washed her face of makeup either. I find myself taking short glances at her as we continue on with the six hour drive. I notice she's unusually quiet.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask, reaching over to brush my hands over hers.

She looks at me, gives me a small smile and just nods her head. I frown when she turns back and looks out her window, gazing out at the dark forests lining the freeway.

"Are you sure?"

She doesn't look at me. I hear her sigh. "Yeah, just a little tired, I guess," she breathes.

"Yeah, it was a rather exciting day."

She doesn't say anything. So neither do I. She seemed happy when we left my parents' I don't know what's changed now. And it's not like she can change her mind anymore.

It takes us longer than what I was hoping to get to the Metolius River Resort. We arrive around one in the morning and both Ana and I are exhausted. I hurry and check in and then carry our bags to our cabin. The lights are already on when we enter and I'm met with a burst of warmth and the scent of flowers when I walk further into the cabin.

There are vases of roses scattered around the house, and since the entire cabin is an open floor plan I can see the bedroom and I note with disinterest that the bed is smothered in red rose petals. Ana and I glance at each other and then quickly look away. She clearly noticed the romantic setting of the cabin, too.

I drag our luggage to the bedroom, passing the small living room with a fire place, the kitchen with a chilled bottle of champagne on the counter, and the bathroom attached to the bedroom. The bathroom is the only place here that I think actually has a door.

I'm looking around the bedroom, admiring the large picture windows looking out over the river when Ana comes into the room and clears her throat.

I turn and look at her. "So, um, how are we gonna do this?" she asks, gesturing towards the bed.

I raise a brow and smirk. "I thought married couples were supposed to sleep in the same bed," I remark.

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, when they can actually stand to be near each other long enough."

I roll my eyes. I see we're back with the snarky attitude. "Well I'm sleeping in the bed. You can sleep wherever you want."

"No," she says, drawing out the o. "I'm sleeping in the bed. You can sleep on the couch."

I glare at her. "I am not sleeping on that couch. I'm too big for it. You're just the right size."

She places her hands on her hips and glares back at me. I see her eyes move back and forth between the bed and me and I know exactly what she's thinking. We both run towards the bed at the same time, our bodies knocking into each other and both of us roughly landing on the bed. Rose petals fly in the air and softly float around us and onto the floor.

She pushes me against my chest trying to push me off the bed while I put my hand against her face and push her head up.

"Ow! Get off of me, Christian!" she whines.

"No. I'm sleeping on this bed. You go somewhere else."

"I'm your wife. I thought husbands were supposed to give their wives whatever they want."

I laugh as I move my hands down to her waist and continue to push her. "Don't try to pull that. And I'm surprised you actually referred to yourself as my wife, I thought you'd be disgusted by the thought."

I begin to tickle her along the ribs to gain leverage and catch her off guard to push her off the bed.

"I never said I wasn't—oh! Don't tickle me," she complains, gasping between her sudden giggles.

I roll us over so she's under me, my thighs straddling her hips as my fingers move across her ribs. I grin as she wriggles and struggles under me, her giggles infectious.

"Christian!" she gasps through laughter. "Stop!"

I continue to torture her.

"I get the bed."

"No!"

"Then I'm not going to stop," I tell her.

She grabs my wrists and tries to pull my hands away but I continue my ministrations.

"I'm going to pee! Stop, Christian, please!"

"I get the bed."

"Okay! Okay!" she relents. "You can have the bed."

I stop tickling her and stare down at her in triumph as she catches her breath. She opens her eyes to glare at me but I beam down at her. A few seconds later, when she's more composed, she looks at me, and then let's her eyes trail down to where I'm sitting on her. She shifts uncomfortably under me, and that's when I realize I'm still sitting atop her. I swing my leg over her and lay back on the bed next to her. Neither of us says anything for a moment.

I try to keep my thoughts on other things rather than how her body felt under me, but I'm failing miserably. Her scent invades my personal space and I close my eyes to savor her unique and undoubtedly arousing aroma. I feel myself grow in desire and I will myself to keep my appendages under control. My body is more than aware of her presence next to me. I can feel her body heat mingling with mine, and my skin prickles and shivers. I try to keep my breathing even and swallow the extra saliva that seems to have magically appeared in my mouth. I shift atop the soft comforter as I keep my gaze away from hers. She moves next to me and her hand brushes against mine. It's as if a bolt of lightning strikes me and lights up my body. I move closer to the edge of the bed, further away from her.

She clears her throat. "Um, I think I'm going to take a shower now."

She doesn't wait for my response as she hops out of the bed, snatches her bag up and then scampers into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. There's rose petals nestled in her hair.

I stare at the door and then turn my head to look up at the wood-paneled ceiling. I sigh loudly already having a feeling this is going to be a very, very long week.

 **I guess I still have a little love left over from yesterday, so here's a bonus!**

 **Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites.**

 **SS &G xoxo**

 **This entire story is in Christian's POV. Once every chapter is posted I'll think about doing outtakes in Ana's POV for specific chapters, if you guys want.**


	12. Desires

**Chapter twelve-Desires**

We've been in this cabin for three days now and I feel like I'm in torture. On the first night here I felt like my balls were about to bust. Apparently, Mia packed Ana's bag and instead of packing simple pajamas, Mia thought it would be a good idea to pack sheer nighties that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Ana was adamant about me not looking at her at all during the night but my curiosity got the better. And the moment my curiosity was assuaged, I cursed myself for being so curious. I was left hard and frustrated after my secret peek.

I was trying to force my mind to shut down, but as luck would have it Ana was having the same problem. But it wasn't because she was trying to control her raging lust, she was so uncomfortable on the two seater couch that she did nothing but toss and turn and complain about how uncomfortable it was. There was only one other place she could sleep and it wasn't hard to guess where. So not only was I trying to deal with the image of her scantily dressed body, but I was then having to deal with her scantily dressed body lying next to mine on the queen sized bed. I felt like I was going to combust.

It's soon going to be night again and I'm not ready to lie next to her warm body, knowing I can't touch her. It's frustrating. And I've been taking it out on her.

We've been more aggressive towards each other lately and I know it has everything to do with the fact that we've been holed up in this tiny cabin for three days. I've taken a few hikes a few times to help relieve my frustration, but that didn't help. I worked on my business plan for GEH, the company I want to build, but that only increased my frustration. And it's not like I can make an excuse to Ana saying I'm going out to buy more groceries or something because the cabin is fully stocked with everything we'd need for the week.

Ana's been doing some senior project for school to keep her occupied and she cooks dinner, but other than that she keeps to herself, when she's not berating me or arguing with me about some bullshit. I swear the woman drives me insane. One moment I want to fuck her into 2025 and the next I want to strangle the everloving shit out of her. I'm ready to go back home so I can breathe without her damn arousing scent frustrating me more than what I already am.

"Jesus, Christian, can you breathe any louder? Shut the hell up, I'm trying to do work!" she all but yells at me.

I clench my jaw. It's been like this since yesterday. She just throws a fit about whatever the hell she can think of just to grate on my fucking nerves.

"I can barely hear myself breathing, Anastasia, you're probably just hearing yourself. God knows I can," I mutter as civilly as possible.

"Oh, what the hell is that supposed to mean, you dick? How about you go take another hike and this time don't come back."

I try my hardest to keep my mouth shut and keep my gaze away from her. I take a deep breath and turn my attention back to the TV, which is pointless since there's nothing on.

I hear the mattress creak as Ana gets off the bed. Next thing I hear is her padding over to me. I keep my eyes on the TV above the fireplace as she stands in front of me with her hands on her hips. I try not to roll my eyes as I imagine what she's going to complain about next.

"I want to go home. I can't stand being in here with you another minute," she informs me, her glare hot on my face.

"Then go. But you're not taking my car and I'm sure as hell not driving you back. You can walk back for all I care," I bite out, my gaze still centered above her head.

She moves so she standing in between the coffee table and the couch so she's directly in front of me. I can't look at anything but her since she's so close.

"Why have you been treating me like shit since we got here? I've done nothing to you," she tells me, trying to act like I've really wounded her feelings.

I glower up at her and then slowly stand. She takes a step back. "Excuse me?" I say. "I'm the one who's been treating _you_ like shit? I don't think so, sweetheart. If anyone has been treated like shit it's me! You've been doing nothing but biting my head off since we got here!"

She crosses her arms over her chest and frowns deeply. "That is so not true. You're the one with the fucking mood swings. One minute you're asking if I need anything and the next you're telling me to stay the fuck away from you!"

"Well one could imagine why, you're fucking irritating!"

She scoffs. "And you think you're any better? You're like a fucking cockroach! Disgusting and dirty and even if you cut its head off it still doesn't die! It's always there just . . . just . . ."

She's breathing heavy , her chest heaving with each breath. Her fists are clenched at her sides and her body is stiff as a board. Her pupils dilate when I stare into her eyes and a slow flush covers her body. I narrow my eyes and step closer to her. I stop when I'm only an inch in front of her.

"Just what?" I whisper.

She doesn't answer me, just stares at me. I can feel the heat radiating off her, and then I feel the sexual tension swirling around and in between us. It clogs my pores and fogs my mind. I want her.

"Just what?" I ask again.

I lean my head down close to hers and brush my lips against her ear.

"Can you feel it, Ana?" I breathe into her ear.

She shudders and takes a deep breath. I lean back to look at her face. Her eyes are closed and his mouth is open to accommodate her pants.

"Can you?" I repeat.

She opens her eyes and her baby blues burn with desire.

"Can I what?" she breathes.

I press my erection into her. Her eyes widen and she tenses. I look deep into her eyes.

"Feel me."

She groans and throws herself into my arms, her lips descending over my mouth. Her arms wrap around my shoulders, her fingers bury into my hair. My hands instantly run down to her thighs and I lift her up, urging her to wrap her legs around me. She does and I carry us to the bed.

I lay her down on her back, secured in my arms and her delicious mouth captured by mine.

"Oh God, I want you so bad," I murmur against her mouth as I begin undressing her.

She moans shamelessly, her head falling back. I kiss her exposed neck as I begin to unbutton her knee-length dress. My fingers shake as I push each button through the hole, my body eager to be inside her.

I pull the sleeveless dress from her arms and try to take a moment to admire her partially bare body before me, but she gives me no time when she grabs the back of my head and pushes my mouth on hers. I tremble when her velvety tongue strokes mine and tastes me.

I help her take off my shirt, our mouths still fused. Her anxious fingers move down to my shorts before my shirt is over my head and her eagerness only turns me on more.

With nothing but my briefs on I fall on top of her, my hips nestled in between her silky thighs and my hands on her small waist. I move my hands further up her body until my hands are cupping her breasts. I flex my fingers, squeezing her full mounds through her bra. She arches her back off the bed.

"Take it off," she moans against my mouth.

She doesn't have to ask me twice. My hands expertly unclasp her bra. I pull it down her arms, and when she's fully exposed to me, a primal growl leaves my throat. The sight of her makes me throb. My lips immediately find her porcelain skin. I lick and kiss each breast, savoring the taste of her. When my lips wrap around her nipple, her fingers pull at my roots and her hips buck up against my groin. I groan, sounding pained by the contact.

"Christian," she breathes.

"Hmm?" I hum, my mouth occupied by her delicious skin.

"Please. I want you so bad. Stop teasing me." Her voice is breathy and desperate.

I lean up to look at her face and I almost shoot my load at the sight. Her lips are swollen, her eyes misty with passion, and her skin flushed a beautiful shade of pink.

I brace my hands on the side of her head as I gaze down at her.

"You want me?" I whisper. I push my throbbing member against her core and she writhes and moans under me.

Her hands reach for my hips and she digs her nails into my skin. Her head is thrown back and her mouth is open.

"Yes, please, I want you. Now." I'm almost taken aback by her pleading. Not even ten minutes ago she was yelling at me to get away from her now she's begging me to fuck her. And fuck her I will.

She suddenly sits up, pulls her legs close to her body and then pulls down her barely-there cotton underwear and throws them aside. My eyes widen in surprise and excitement when I get a glimpse of her glistening flesh. I'm hit with a whiff of her arousal and my knees almost give out on me. She smells like heaven.

I want to know if she tastes like it too, but once again she doesn't give me the opportunity. She leans forward and wastes no time in divulging me of my underwear. She gazes at my pulsing length with lust and apprehension, and then looks up at me. Her eyes are shining, but I think I see a little bit of fear in her gaze. But that doesn't seem to stop her. Reaching up she grabs my face in her hands and forces my lips against hers in a searing kiss. She pulls me down as she slowly lies back against the bed.

I feel her spread her legs wider to give me room, and when I lean over her my tip brushes against warm, wet heat. I groan and buck my hips against her. She groans into my mouth, lifting her hips up, trying to gain more friction.

I can wait no longer. I run my hand down the length of her body and rub my fingers against her, testing her readiness. When I pull my fingers away from her core they're slick with her arousal. I look down at her to see if she's watching me and shove my fingers into my mouth. Her eyes widen and her cheeks redden. I moan and close my eyes. She tastes amazing.

Bracing my hands by her waist, I grab my length and rub it against her. She moans, closing her eyes and arching her back. When I'm coated in her juices I guide myself lower against her and probe my head at her entrance. I frown when after only getting my tip in I feel resistance. A lot of resistance.

I look up at Ana with a questioning glare.

"Ana . . . are you—"

The words die in my throat when she locks her ankles above my ass and lifts her hips, forcing me to inch in a little deeper. I groan and close my eyes, my jaw flexing.

"Ana, stop moving!" I try to pull out but she flexes her legs, keeping me where I am. I glare at her.

"You stop. Don't think about it, Christian. I want this," she tells me, a defiant glint in her eye. Her hands move to my shoulder blades, holding me close to her.

I ball my hands around the comforter when she lifts herself move, pulling me in more.

"Fuck, Ana. Let me go! I didn't know you were a fucking virgin!" I grit out. I feel sweat beading on my forehead and back. I'm trying so hard from plunging into her full force. Damn, I want to sink into her so bad, but I didn't know she's never had sex. I don't want to hurt her.

"No."

She lowers her feet and pushes her feet into my ass, trying to force me to sink all the way into her. I cry out, shaming myself, and I lose the will to fight this any longer. I lower myself onto my elbows and bury myself all the way inside her. I lower my head and kiss her when she painfully cries out.

Fuck that was what I wanted to avoid. I didn't want to hurt her. I stay still, letting her acclimatize to the intrusion. And then she shifts under me. Pleasure shoots down my spine. She feels so fucking good wrapped around me.

"Shit. Don't move, Ana," I growl.

She ignores me and shifts again.

"It doesn't hurt anymore," she breathes. "Please, Christian, move."

I close my eyes and rest my forehead on hers as I pull out and slowly sink back in. We both groan. I keep a steady pace for a few more strokes, and then she starts meeting my thrusts. Before I know it I'm harshly thrusting into her, her moans and cries urging me on. I'm ready to blow my load, and I'm saved when she clenches tightly around me. I rotate my hips, stimulating her clit and she suddenly explodes around me. I continue to pound into her, riding out her orgasm, and then I let go, my body trembling and spent.

I fall on top of her, out of breath, and just lie there for a moment, savoring the euphoric bliss. After what feels like ages, I roll off Ana and lay on my back. I gaze up at the ceiling and then turn my head to look at Ana.

Her eyes are closed and her bare chest rises steadily with each breath.

"Ana?" She opens her eyes and blinks at me, then raises a brow. "Why didn't you tell me you were a virgin?"

She turns away and shrugs. "I didn't want to ruin the moment."

"Well you had to of known I would have figured it out," I tell her.

"I knew you would, which is why I told you not to think about it and forced you to penetrate me," she says nonchalantly.

I gape at her for a moment then burst into laughter. No one would ever think a man would need to be forced to have sex with someone he's been dreaming about fucking for days. And I can't believe innocent—or used to be innocent—Anastasia was the one to force me. I shake my head at the thought.

"Ana?"

"What?" she asks, not looking at me.

"Did you like it?"

She turns to look at me, a small smile pulling at her lips. "Yes."

I grin and turn away, male pride and satisfaction boosting my ego.

Neither of us says anything for a while. But I break the silence. Turning my head again, I ask, "Do you want to do it again?"

"Jesus, I thought you'd never ask."

I laugh as she scoots over me to straddle my hips. She stares down at me with ill-disguised desire and I gently guide her down on me. We both groan at the contact and soon we're lost in each other again.

 **Well that should answer whether or not there'd be lemons ;)**

 **Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites.**

 **SS &G xoxo**


	13. Problems

**I made myself very clear in the beginning but apparently stupidity is a disease that can't be cured.**

 **To the guest reviewer who's too fucking stupid to stop reading a story he/she doesn't like how about you go fuck yourself and stay the hell away from my stories. If my story is too generic for you I'm sure it was too generic in the beginning as well but your ignorance kept bringing you back, apparently. And if every story on this site isn't good enough for you, how about you take a shot at writing yourself and see how many people would like your stories, and by the content of your review I doubt anyone would because you sound like a damn idiot.**

 **I didn't realize it was hard to be respectful to people you don't know, but obviously I was mistaken. Either keep your fucking petty complaints to yourself or go whine to someone who gives two fucks.**

 **If any of your are going to sign in as guests and try to talk down to me how about you grow some fucking balls first and sign in with your pen name. No one likes petty bitches.**

 **Take this as a reminder to anyone else who feels the need to act like a catty, pathetic piece of shit. Either keep your fucking mouth shut or fuck off.**

 **Chapter Thirteen-Problems**

"Christian!" Ana screams. I love it when she screams my name.

The warm water pounds against my flexed back as I drive myself into Ana from behind. I have both of my hands on her, one gripping her waist and the other resting against her arched back. Her hands are braced against the wall. I groan loudly as her body clenches around me, her muscles sucking me deeper inside.

"Jesus, Ana," I grunt, as she pushes her ass against me.

"Oh, God!" she cries out, throwing her head back. "Mm, I'm gonna come, Christian!"

I growl in the back of my throat. Moving my hand from her back I reach around in between her legs and massage her clit. She jerks against me and without warning convulses around me. I hold her around the waist when her knees give out and continue to pump a few more times before I come deep inside her. We sink to the floor, spent and sated with the rushing water still pouring over us.

She's sitting in my lap, her back against my chest and her head resting on my shoulder as we both pant, catching our breaths.

"I'm gonna miss this," she breathes.

"Miss what?"

She turns her head so her forehead is resting against my neck. "This. With you."

I unconsciously run my fingers over her arms. I frown at her words. "I'm not understanding."

"We go back home tomorrow," she explains, looking up at me.

I chuckle. "So?"

"So . . . I thought . . . I thought we wouldn't continue, um, doing this," she mumbles.

"You thought just because we're going home tomorrow I wouldn't want to fuck you anymore?" I ask, sounding a little disbelieving.

She shrugs. "Well, yeah. We're getting back to reality, and it's going to be . . . different."

"It is going to be different," I agree. "But that's only because I'll be fucking you whenever I please."

She doesn't say anything for a moment, so I add to my comment. "Is that not what you want, Ana?"

"No. I want that. It's just . . . I don't know how to explain it."

"What, are you afraid of our relationship changing?" I ask.

"Yes. I've never been in a relationship before, and—"

"Wait, is that what you want? A real relationship?"

She takes a deep breath. "I don't know," she whispers. "I don't know what I want anymore. But I do like what we've been doing," she admits.

"So do I," I tell her. A thought comes to my mind. "Why don't we just be friends—with benefits? I mean, we'll be living together, and neither one of us is sure if we want a relationship or not, but we like the sex. Plus, we still need to act like were lovebirds around my family. It'll be a win-win for everyone."

She thinks it over for a minute then nods her head. "Alright, I can work with that," she says. She looks up at me with a smile on her face. I smile back and plant a chaste kiss on her mouth.

I relish the feel of her soft body in my arms for a moment then say, "I think we should get out of here before we turn into prunes."

She giggles. "Okay."

I help her stand up, turn off the water and step out of the shower. We wrap ourselves in towels and walk out of the bathroom.

"I don't feel like getting dressed," Ana mumbles.

"Then don't. You'll end up being naked anyways."

She turns around and grins at me. "And to think I was going to ask what you wanted to do for the rest of the day."

I smirk at her. "Can't blame a man for wanting a body like yours under him 24/7."

"Apparently not."

I watch her from the bed as she walks to the kitchen in nothing but her birthday suit.

"I'm going to make a sandwich, do you want one?" she asks from behind the kitchen island.

"Sure."

I have the perfect view of her sexy body from my comfortable spot on the bed. It's kind of hard to believe this is our last day here, even harder to believe that for the past four and a half days I've been balls deep inside my wife. Jeez, it's so weird saying that word. It's so weird thinking about the fact that I'm married. But honestly knowing that it's Ana that I'm married to doesn't make it seem all that outrageous.

After our first round of fucking I thought it would be awkward between us, like we were too embarrassed to look at each other. But I was totally wrong. It was like nothing happened between us, and when we were so lost in each other it felt completely natural.

The only time things got more serious than I would have liked is when I realized I've been fucking her without a condom. Thankfully she just forgot to mention she was on birth control. I've never been more thankful for the menstrual cycle in my life.

I am a little sad to be leaving. We won't be in our small little bubble anymore, and although I am excited to get back home and get things done, I'm a little saddened at the thought of not having Ana's full attention day in and day out. I love her being at my beck and call. I love that she likes to fuck me. I love her warm body resting next to mine. I love . . . I love . . . I quickly erase the frightening thought that comes to mind and bury it deep in the recesses of my mind. I'm not ready to acknowledge that terrifying thought yet.

"Christian, do you want mustard?" Ana says, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Um, I-yeah sure, I don't care, whatever is fine," I stumble over my words.

"Okay," she answers humorously. I don't know what's funny.

She comes back into the room moments later with two plates in her hand. She passes one to me. I watch as she awkwardly moves across the bed. Even though I've become quite acquainted with her naked body, I still think she's a little shy around me.

I smirk at her as she begins eating. She looks up at me, her mouth full. "What?" she asks.

I shake my head and take a bite of my sandwich, remembering to thank her only after I'm finished.

After cleaning up our mess, we find ourselves back in bed. We're laying face to face, her hands resting under her head, my hand on her waist and the other playing with her hair.

"Ana, can I ask you something?"

She nods her head, her eyes growing a little wary.

"When we were younger, why did we start hating each other?" I ask.

She blinks at me. "I didn't hate you."

"Yes, you did. It was like we were best friends one day, and the next you turned evil and started biting my head off whenever you saw me," I tell her.

She flattens her mouth into a thin line and rolls onto her back. I hear her sigh and then slightly chuckle. "I didn't hate you, Christian. Trust me."

I move over so I'm looking down at her face. She gazes into my eyes. "Then why were you so mean? What happened that changed our relationship?"

She stares up at me. Cocking her head, she says, "You really don't know?"

I shake my head. "I really don't know."

She licks her lips. "Christian, I had the biggest crush on you when we were younger."

"What?" I breathe, shocked.

She narrows her eyes at me. "You really didn't know that?"

I shake my head. I really didn't know. I mean we were both fond of each other but I never knew she had a crush on me. Maybe I didn't notice because I just never saw her in that way. I just saw her as my friend. I'll admit that I did think she was pretty, but it was never the type of attraction that would lead me to like her like that.

I look at her. "So what changed?"

She shakes her head and sighs. "I was jealous," she admits. "And hurt. You started talking to other girls and ignoring me. I thought you were doing it on purpose because you knew I liked you and you didn't feel the same."

I shake my head. That's definitely how I remember it. "I didn't ignore you, Ana. We both started hanging around with different people, we just drifted apart."

"Yeah, because you started ignoring me so I stopped talking to you altogether," she argues.

"No," I say emphatically. "That's not what happened, Ana."

She gives me a look. "Why are you getting so upset?"

"Because you have it all wrong. That's not how it happened. We drifted apart and then . . . I don't know you hit puberty or something and that's what caused your anger towards me."

She smiles. "It really doesn't matter anymore, Christian. You shouldn't be getting worked up over the past," she reasons.

I huff out a loud breath and roll onto my back. But it does matter. To me at least. I didn't know she liked me and I sure as hell didn't ignore her on purpose. If I had known she liked me . . . I don't know what I would have done, but maybe our relationship wouldn't be the way it is now. I mean, I'm not complaining about the way it is now, but maybe we could've stayed best friends, and maybe we could've dated each other. I sigh, wondering if that's something I really want or not. I mean I like Ana, I more than like Ana but I don't know if I could be in a relationship with her. I wouldn't want to screw it up. I honestly couldn't imagine my life without her. That would be true even before we got married.

"You said you used to have a crush on me," I begin. "You don't anymore?"

"No," she answers quickly, too quickly. "I mean, no. I don't have a crush on you . . . anymore."

"Oh. Well I don't have a crush on you either."

"Good to know," she says dryly.

"Would you like to know why?"

"Not really but you're going to tell me anyways, aren't you?"

"I see even after fucking you mad you still seem to have your smart mouth," I remark.

She turns to me with a humorous glint in her eyes. "That will never change no matter how hard you fuck me."

I roll my eyes. "I don't have a crush on you because I could never be attracted to someone who thought the Easter Bunny was real until they were fifteen."

She laughs. "I told you, I thought it was a real bunny made scientifically that laid colored eggs!"

I laugh. "That sounds totally ridiculous. Why would they genetically engineer a bunny to lay colored eggs? And bunnies don't even lay eggs!"

She rolls her eyes but has an amused smile on her face. "Whatever. But I have you know I was completely distraught when I was told that there was no such thing."

I laugh. "Oh, poor little Anastasia, finding out bunnies don't lay colored eggs," I tease.

She turns to look at me, her eyes squinted. "You like to tease me a lot, I noticed."

"I do," I admit unashamed.

She frowns and looks down at my bare chest. "I like it," she whispers.

My eyes shoot to hers. Her eyes are trained on mine. We just stare at each other, unmoving. Our breathing is even and I realize it's synchronized. I find myself being pulled in by her mesmerizing eyes, and being pulled closer to her. My lips slowly inch forward, coming to meet hers. Then suddenly she turns her head, her eyes wide, and she sits up and quickly climbs out of bed. I sit up and stare at her quizzically.

"Um," she murmurs, her arms covering her body. I frown at her actions. "I—I have to use the bathroom."

She doesn't give me the chance to respond as she dashes to the bathroom and closes the door securely behind her. I frown. What the hell was that all about?

Later on that evening, Ana seems to be a bit standoffish. She avoids eye contact most of the time, gives me short answers when she can get away with it, and when I asked her if she wanted to shower she said she didn't think she needed one, knowing full well the reason I wanted to take a shower.

She's made our final dinner here, which is Chicken Parmesan. It's delicious. Ana's a very good cook.

But beside the delicious meal it's the first time we've been here that there's been awkward silence between us. I've tried to get her to make conversation with me, but she continues to shy away.

I'm finished eating but I'm still sitting at the table, gazing at Ana as she mostly picks at her food.

"Ana will you tell me what's wrong?" I ask her, my tone pleading.

"There's nothing to tell, Christian. Nothing's wrong. How many times are you going to ask me that?"

"As many times as it takes until you give me an honest answer," I snap at her.

She drops her fork on her plate with a loud clatter and stands up, huffing out an exasperated sigh. She picks up both of our plates and takes them to the sink. After washing them, she turns around and says, "I'm tired so I'm going to bed. Plus we have a long drive tomorrow." I watch her as she goes. She didn't even look at me as she made the announcement.

I sigh and lean back in the chair, running my fingers through my hair. I don't know what to do or say to make her open up to me. I don't know what I did to make her close herself off from me either. Jesus, why do women have to be so complicated?

I sigh as I stand up and pad to the bedroom. I leave my pajama pants on knowing I won't need to have them off, but I do take off my shirt. It gets hot with both me and Ana in the bed and with the fireplace burning.

I slide in next to her and notice with displeasure how she distances herself as far away from me as possible. I frown, rather irritated that we're spending our last night here separated instead of sexing each other up.

I stare at Ana's back for a moment, trying to think of something to say to fix whatever's wrong, but I come up blank. I lean over and turn of the bedside lamp. I close my eyes, willing sleep to find me but knowing it won't.

 **Nothing can ever be easy between these two, can it? But young love is never easy, or so I've been told.**

 **Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites.**

 **SS &G xoxo**

 **Sorry guys no babies . . . yet ;)**

 **Diamondchild-I guess I misspoke, it was chapter thirteen. Sorry!**

 **Only three chapters left-not including the epilogue.**


	14. Blindness

**Chapter Fourteen-Blindness**

I wake up in a sour mood the next morning for many reasons. One of them being that Ana's still giving me the cold shoulder. So I just let her wallow in whatever problem she has and continue packing up and loading the car.

I've been driving for a little over three hours when Ana finally decides to speak to me.

"I don't think I want to do the friends with benefits thing anymore," she murmurs softly.

I scowl. She would want to drop this bomb on me when I want to give her my full attention but can't.

I take a fleeting glance at her.

"Why?" I demand.

"Because I don't. I've changed my mind."

"Why?" I demand again, my voice more harsh. I grip the steering wheel in frustration and anger.

"It wasn't part of the deal, Christian. You never said I had to have sex with you in order to make this thing between us believable."

"Damn it, Ana!" I yell suddenly, making her jump. "Why do you always have to make things so fucking difficult? Every single time I try to keep things simple and agreeable you have to go and fuck it all up!"

"That's what I'm trying to avoid, Christian! Adding sex to the equation only makes things more difficult, hell it's already more difficult! When I agreed to do this I was expecting it to be straightforward and simple. I never thought I would fa—"

She stops suddenly. I look at her. Her mouth is pinched in a stubborn line.

"You never thought you would what?" I ask.

"Nothing. Nevermind."

"For the love of God, Ana, can you ever just answer one of my fucking questions? Why are you being so complicated?"

"I am not being complicated."

"You are too, but if you don't think so prove me wrong. Answer my question. You never thought you would what?"

"I'm done talking to you." She looks out her window.

I try to glower at her. "You don't get to decide when the conversation is over, I do, and I'm not done talking to you."

"Well you can continue the conversation but you'd just be talking to yourself," she mutters, stubbornly keeping her gaze on the landscape.

I grit my teeth so tightly I'm afraid I'll crack my teeth. I try to take a deep breath to calm myself down but it doesn't work. My anger, frustration and hurt continue to simmer deep in the pit of my stomach. I grip the steering wheel so hard I'm sure my fingers will leave an imprint.

"God, I wish I never married you. You cause more problems than you help solve," I bite out in anger.

I hear her small gasp. "Well how about we just cut this whole bullshit deal short and get a divorce before I can create any more problems in your fucking perfect life, you fucking asshole!" I hear her choke on the last word. I look over and see tears brimming in her eyes. The anger immediately rushes out of me when I realize what I've said and that I hurt her feelings.

I sag into my seat, feeling like a real dick. "Ana, I'm—"

"Save it, Christian. I don't want to hear anything else you have to say. I don't want to see your annoying face, and when we get back to the house we're unfortunately bound to I'll be sure to stay out of your way so I don't ruin your life any further." With that she puts her earphones in and turns up her music loud to block out anything else I could say.

I bang my head against the head rest and run my hands through my hair. What a great fucking start to our marriage after the honeymoon.

When we pull up into the driveway of the house that has been gifted to us, I look to see if Ana perks up at the sight of it. I'm disappointed when she does nothing else but sigh, almost forlornly, and stare at the dashboard.

I pinch my lips together, wishing that things were different between us. The day before we left the cabin I never expected to be coming back home to this giant house with my distant, unhappy wife. I don't even know what I'm supposed to say or do. Obviously sex is off the table, so does that mean she's not going to sleep in the same bed as me? Looking at her impassive face I think I have my answer.

Parking my car in front of the three-car garage, I turn off the engine but don't move to get out. I turn my head to say something to Ana, but right as I open my mouth she opens her door and slides out, slamming it shut behind her. I watch as she walks to the double front doors, puts in the key I gave her when I told her about us now owning this house, and steps inside, leaving me to carry in our luggage.

I sag in my seat. I guess it's safe to say I really fucked this up between us. I huff out a long breath, get out of the car and retrieve our luggage from the trunk. When I walk into the foyer I place our suitcases by the door, and as I look around I'm almost expecting my grandparents to come rushing towards me. It's so weird thinking of this house that my grandparents have lived in for fifteen years now being my home. But I'll always cherish it and be thankful just because the best people in the world lived here.

I hear clatter coming from the back of the house. The noises are coming from the kitchen, and when I get close to see what it is, I see Ana rummaging through cabinets.

The best thing about living here is that I already know where everything is since I came here a lot when I was younger.

"What are you looking for?" I ask her, walking further into the kitchen.

"Not you," she mumbles, pulling a wine glass from the cabinet.

I clench my jaw. Her attitude and indifference is beginning to really piss me off. "Obviously I know that," I grit out.

She keeps her gaze far away from me as she goes to the wine fridge and pulls out a bottle.

"I thought I told you not to talk to me anymore." She looks up at me, her eyes narrowed but I see the lingering hurt clear in her eyes.

"You're my wife, I can talk to you if I want." I step further into the kitchen, taking steps closer toward her. I just want her to talk to me so we can get past whatever this thing is going on between us.

"I don't want to be your wife. I honestly rather not live with you either. I think I'm going back to my dad's," she says, and begins pouring wine into the glass.

"You're not twenty-one," I remind her.

She shoots me a deadly look. "I never said I was. Now if you don't mind I'll be going to the guestroom. I'll expect you to respect my wishes and stay away."

"Like hell if that's happening, Ana! I'm getting real tired of you ignoring me and giving me the cold shoulder. I'm sorry about what I said, I didn't mean it, but if you have something to say just fucking say it!" I yell at her.

She tried to move towards the exit that leads to the back stairway, but I blocked her path. Now we're glowering at each other, our panting breaths mixing together. I feel my heart beating against my ribs.

"Why can't you just leave me alone, Christian! Why do you have to be so fucking obnoxious day in and day out? I told you I don't want to talk to you, why is that so hard to understand?" she hisses.

I grip her wrists in my hands as she begins to beat against my chest. She tries to shake herself out of my hold but I only grip her tighter and give her a slight shake.

"Because I can't! I don't know how to leave you alone, Ana. You haven't realized that yet?"

She looks up at me, trying to keep the ill-placed contempt in her eyes. "Try harder." She glares at me and then snatches her arms away from me and rushes past me up the stairs.

"My parents are expecting us at their house in two hours!" I call out to her bitterly, knowing it's going to be one hell of a time trying to get her to talk to me. We can't go to my parent's house acting so closed off from one another. They'll realize something is going on and I wouldn't be able to explain what's going on even if I wanted to.

I groan as I run my hands through my hair and over my face as I sag against the wall. What am I going to do with that woman? She has the power to piss me off and turn me on at the same time. She seems to have total control over me, but I have absolutely no control over her, or myself obviously.

We have half an hour before we need to be at my parents and it's going to take just about that time to get there, and we still haven't left yet. Ana's locked the door to the guestroom, and I've been trying to coax her to come out for the past fifteen minutes but she dutifully ignores me.

"Ana, please," I plead as I rest my head against the door and restlessly drum my fingers over the smooth wood. "My mother's going to be upset if we don't show, she said she had a whole thing planned for us. If you don't want to go for me at least go for her."

I wait and listen for what feel s like ages. I can hear her moving around but she still doesn't answer me. I'm about to beg her again, but the door suddenly opens and she steps out in a yellow strapless sundress with wedge sandals and her loose hair falling around her shoulders in soft waves.

I stare at her dumbfounded for a moment. Every time I see her I can't help but feel she gets more and more beautiful.

Her voice pulls my eyes away from her gorgeous body and to her light blue eyes. "I'll be waiting in the car," she says, walking past me without another word or look.

I rush after her, thankful that she's agreeing to go. My mom would have been extremely disappointed if neither of us showed. But then again I would've been disappointed too. Being around our family will mean Ana will have to act civil towards me, and even though I know she'll be acting, it's good enough for me at the moment.

When we get outside and to the car I try to open her door but she just pushes me out of the way and smoothly slides in, still avoiding my eyes. I stand and look at her for a minute through the window. I don't really understand why she's so mad at me. I apologized for my harsh words. I don't know what else to apologize for.

I get in the car and moments later I'm pulling out of the driveway. The entire drive to my parents was in silence, awkward silence, and Ana avoided looking at me every chance she had. When we pull into my parents' driveway, I turn off the engine and once again attempt to talk to her. I catch her hand right before I see her reach for the door.

"Ana, wait."

"What?" she says, her gaze on my parents' house.

"You're not going to tell them about us, will you?"

Her eyes snap to mine. "Tell them what?" she says defensively. "There's nothing to tell."

I frown at her. "I meant you're not going to tell them about our . . . arrangement?"

She turns away from me again. "No. I don't want to waste my breath talking about anything that has to do with you."

She pulls against my hand and I let go throwing my hand in the air. I glare at her as she gets out of the car. She's going to be rudely awakened when people are going to continually ask her how the honeymoon was. So it'll be hard for her not to talk about me. I mean this night is for us anyway.

I sigh and get out of the car, meeting Ana at the door just as my mother opens the door in greeting.

She beams at us when she sees us. I glance at Ana and see her smiling back. Oh, so she'll be receptive to my mother but not me. I feel myself begin to slowly simmer in anger and irritation once again.

"Oh, look at you two. Ana, dear, you have a beautiful glow." She winks at Ana, and she blushes. I smirk. "What are you two doing out here? Come in, everyone's waiting for you!"

My mother urges Ana in and then turns to me. "Christian." She places her hand on the side of my face and kisses my cheek. "I hope you had a wonderful honeymoon, darling."

I force a smile. It was wonderful for a while. "Hello, Mother. Yes, I had a wonderful time," I partially lie.

She smiles and guides me inside. When we get to the family room I see everyone all over Ana congratulating her and asking about the honeymoon. Elliot's the first one to spot me.

"Bro!" he says coming over to me. "You look . . . pissed," he comments when he gets closer to me. "Why are you frowning?"

I didn't realize I was. "I'm not pissed," I say. My eyes move from him to Ana. I clench my fists when I see some guy wrap her in a bear hug.

"You sure as hell look like it," Elliot mutters. "Ana's looking a little off, too. Did something happen?" he asks.

"No, Elliot, nothing happened."

My eyes trail back to Ana and I glare at the fucker who has his paws all over her. I watch with severe displeasure as he whispers something into her ear and she leans her head back and laughs. I flex my jaw, and I'm about to go over and break up the _happy_ _couple_ when my Grandpa Grey lays his hand on my shoulder.

"It's nice to see you, Christian. Mind if I have a word?"

I immediately know what he wants to talk about and I'm eager to get the discussion over with.

"Yeah sure," I agree, but then backtrack when I hear Ana's laughter again. "Uh, can you wait just a moment," I tell him as I turn away and stomp towards Ana.

I glare at the fucker with his arm around her shoulder. Ana glares at me when I stand in front of her, but I don't give a shit. I'm staring at the punk who has his hands all over my wife.

"Ana," I say through clenched teeth, "may I have a word with you, please?"

I don't give her a chance to deny me. Grabbing her hand, I pull her away from the crowd and drag her to my room upstairs so I know we'll have privacy.

"Jesus, Christian, what's your problem? Let go of me," she hisses as I pull her up the second flight of stairs.

I ignore her as I push her into my room and close the door behind us. I stand in front of it so she can't leave.

Crossing my arms in front of my chest I bite out, "You know even though this thing between us is complicated, you're still my fucking wife!"

She puts her hands on her hips and glowers at me. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means I don't appreciate you flirting with other men, especially in front of me! Are you deliberately trying to piss me off?"

"Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are? For your information I wasn't flirting with José, unlike you he knows how to actually have a nice conversation with a woman without making her feel like shit!" She's glaring at me and I know if she could she would kill me. Her nostrils are flared, her fists clenched at her sides and her chest heaving with angry panting breaths.

I know my stance isn't too far off from hers. "I have never talked to you like you were shit, Anastasia. You're just making up bullshit so you can stay angry at me for whatever reason. Do you know how fucking irritating is you acting like an angel with everyone else but when it comes to me I'm no better than shit on your shoe. Tell me what the hell I did to make you so angry with me! I'm tired of playing this guessing game with you, just fucking tell me!"

I have her arms in my grip now, and I'm squeezing her hard. I look into her eyes and I see the fire blazing underneath them, her irritation more than apparent. She blinks, and for a moment I swear I notice something else in her gaze, but then it fades away into aggravation again.

"I don't have to tell you anything," she hisses.

"You're not going anywhere until you do. And that's a promise."

She turns her head away from me stubbornly and clamps her mouth shut. It pisses me off so I shake her, making her teeth clatter.

"Fucking answer me Ana!" I scream at her.

"Let go of me!" she yells back and starts crying.

I instantly let go of her like I've been burned, then my door suddenly bursts open

"What the hell is going on in here?"

 **I'm a firm believer in rewarding good behavior, so bonus!**

 **Thanks for all the encouraging reviews, follows and favorites. You guys are what keep this story going ;)**

 **SS &G xoxo**

 **I think someone asked if Christian has touch issues and the answer is no. I wrote this in mind with him being adopted he just didn't have a traumatic childhood. That would just make this more complicated than what it is.**

 **I'll most likely update again tomorrow**


	15. Confessions

**Chapter Fifteen-Confessions**

I turn and look at Kate. What the hell is she doing here?

I glare at her for intruding on a private moment. "What do you want?"

She ignores me as she rushes over to Ana. "Ana, what's wrong? Did he hurt you?"

"She's my fucking wife, I would never hurt her!" I say, outraged at the notion.

Kate turns and gives me a dirty look. "Oh, please, like we both know you couldn't give two shits about Ana. You just want your precious money," she sneers at me.

My eyes fly to Ana, but her face is buried in her hands as she continues to cry. I sigh, biting back the irritation at Ana for telling Crazy Kavanagh about our deal, and walk to her, wanting to soothe her.

I place my hand on Ana's shoulder and she jerks away from me and looks up at me like I'm a disease.

"Don't touch me! And for the last time, leave me the hell alone!"

I stare at her in shock as she runs out of the room with tears streaming down her face.

I go to run after her but Kate stands in my way, glaring at me. "Don't you think you've done enough?"

I just stare at her. I feel my shoulders roll forward and my mouth flattens into a thin line. I don't even know what I've done. It's all Ana, she's acting like she belongs in a mental asylum.

She turns around and struts out of my room. I drag both of my hands through my hair and pull at my roots. Why is it every time I try to talk to her the situation seems to get worse? Why can't we just have a calm simple conversation and solve whatever problem there is between us?

I groan and leave my room, heading back downstairs knowing I'm about to get an earful.

I feel everyone glaring at me before I even get to the bottom step. I look up and see my entire family in the foyer gazing at me like I've lost my mind.

My mother speaks up first. "Christian, what's going on? Ana came running down the stairs bawling her eyes out and ran next door. Kate and Ray went after her."

I rake my fingers through my hair and sigh. I didn't want this to happen. I can't explain what's going on because I don't even know.

I continue my descent down the last step as I say, "It's nothing. Just a disagreement, don't worry," I mutter unconvincingly.

"It didn't seem like nothing, bro," Elliot comments.

"I don't understand why you two are fighting, you should be happy. Everyone's happy when they get back from their honeymoon," my mom says.

"Yeah, because all they do is fuck," Elliot mumbles.

"Elliot!"

"Jesus Christ, will you guys just drop it! I said it's nothing so leave it the fuck alone!" I yell at all of them.

I turn away from all of their shocked faces and bolt out through the front door. I get in my car and drive away, not even knowing where I'm driving to. I've been driving for about twenty minutes, and when I actually take in my surroundings I realize I'm in the area where Ana's secret cliff is.

I park the car and get out, walking through the narrow path, and when I finally get to the grassy cliff, I just stand there and stare out in the distance. Closing my eyes, I take a deep calming breath and breathe in the salty natural scent of earth and let the tension slowly leave my body.

What I would do to go back to the day Ana first took me here. It was simple, no complications, nothing. And that's all it is now. I just . . . I don't want to lose her. She's become a permanent figure in my life and I can't imagine it without her now. And I know it's only been two weeks since we even started this whole ordeal, but it feels like it's been longer than that. I've known her most of my life, but just recently I realized how important she is to me. I can't lose her. I can't. But I don't know how to keep her either. Every time I talk to her it always goes downhill. I have no idea how to make us move forward in a positive direction.

"It's beautiful out here."

I jump and yelp when I hear my Grandpa Grey's voice.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" I ask him, trying to calm my racing heart.

"I followed you," he says, looking out over the horizon rather than me.

"Oh." Is all I can think to say.

It's quiet for a moment. He doesn't say anything and I'm waiting for him to say something. Obviously there's a reason he followed me.

He sighs. "You know, I thought you were trying to pull one over me when you came home with Ana on your arm and suddenly engaged. I'm still not sure if I really believe that whole story about you two dating for two years, and you just coincidentally proposing to her after you found about the trust fund." He looks at me from the corner of his eye. "But I can tell you love her." I snap my head towards him, a deep frown pulling my mouth down. He smirks. "No man would act the way you did about his wife being upset if he didn't love her." He gazes at me, a glint in his eye. "You do love her, don't you?"

I turn away from him and take a deep breath. I swallow, my throat suddenly dry. I don't want to admit my feelings yet. Admitting how you feel makes it everything real. I'd rather live in a fantasy than have to face my feelings, and I'd rather not admit my feelings out loud to him.

I glance at him and he seems to be waiting for my answer. I can't tell him no, I would feel guilty for lying, not only to him but also to myself, but I'm not ready to actually say yes either. I decide not to say anything so slightly just nod my head.

He nods and I see a small smile on his lips as he turns back to the Pacific. "I knew there was something between you two last week, but I'd never imagined it'd turn into something more." He turns back to me. "You look at Ana the same way I look at your Nana Beth." He chuckles and then sighs contemplatively. "It's pretty peculiar the way everything in our lives change when we fall in love, isn't it? I remember when I was in my mid-thirties I wanted to be a bachelor until my last breath, and then I saw Elizabeth and she flipped my entire word upside down." He laughs heartily, reminiscing.

"I'd do anything for that woman. And I know she'd do anything for me. It's our job as husbands to take care of our wives. We need to make sure to keep them happy, otherwise our lives become shit." He grins and winks at me. He turns he body towards me and cocks his head to the side. "Now this idea of yours to get into business, is it a good one?"

I raise my brow and clear my throat. I wasn't expecting him to ask that so casually.

I nod my head. "Yes. I think so."

"Do you think it will not only bring you success but happiness?"

"Yes."

"Would you be able to provide for Ana and your family, when you get to that point?"

"Yes."

He gazes at me for a moment, those greens eyes so similar to my dad's scrutinizing me. He digs into his jacket pocket and then pulls out a folded piece of paper. He hands it to me.

"Then I think you deserve this."

I look up at him as I unfold the paper. "What is it?" I ask.

"All the information you need to open your trust fund."

My shocked gaze finds his calm one. "Y—you're giving me my trust fund?" I ask, dazed. Honestly I was expecting him to withhold it just because he can.

"I am. But I'd be lying if I said I was giving it to you for you to pursue a career without a college education."

I almost groan and have to swallow down the urge to roll my eyes. Of course he wouldn't give me my trust fund because he believed in me. How ignorant of me to think otherwise. I guess in his eyes even if I become the most successful man on the West Coast he'd still see me as a failure because I didn't finish college. Whatever. You have to pick your battles and this isn't one I want to fight.

"Then why did you give this to me?" I ask a little bitterly.

He ignores my tone. "So you have enough money to support your wife until you can get on your feet."

I just stare at him, not sure what to say. I can't necessarily argue with his reason. I do need money, and I did promise Ana a share of it. So even if she does divorce me—as if I'd let her without a fight—she'll have money take to care of herself without Ray's support.

I give my grandfather a small smile and hold up the paper. "Thanks for this, Papa. I will make sure to take care of Ana and I hope one day I can make you proud of me."

I don't wait for him to say anything. I just walk away, back to my car without a glance back. From here I move forward.

I drive back to my parents' house, but my intention isn't to see my parents. I need to see Ana. I get out of my car and walk across the lawn to Ray's front door. Knocking three times I wait for someone to answer. I could just walk in but I don't think that'll be a good idea considering the way Ana ran out of my house.

Ray opens the door and looks down at me in surprise. Which surprises me. I expected him to be scowling at me.

"Christian, what are you doing here, son? I thought you went home." He gestures me inside.

"Uh, no not yet and not without Ana."

He smiles at me. It's unnerving. I was really expecting him to punch my teeth in.

"Good luck with that, son. The way she was ranting and raving about you . . ." he trails off with a shake of his head.

"So she's here then?"

He nods. "She's in her room. Kate's with her," he adds. I roll my eyes. Of course She-Devil II would be here.

"Do you mind if I go up?"

He laughs and shakes his head. "She's your wife and therefor now your responsibility."

I smirk at him. I kind of like the sound of Ana being my responsibility. I want to take care of her, even if she doesn't want me to.

I head for the stairs but Ray's voice stops me. I turn to him.

"I know the girl is a handful and has the power to drive you mad, but be patient with her. She's more fragile than she let's on."

Yeah I figured that out in no time at all. I nod at Ray. "I gave you my promise that I would protect her. I don't plan on ever breaking that promise."

"I know you won't." He walks back into the living room.

I climb the stairs and turn to my right. I stop at Ana's door, but since it's cracked open I can hear her and Kate talking. I lean against the doorframe.

"What am I going to do, Kate? I don't think I can go back to that house with him," I hear Ana's weary voice.

"Ana," Kate sighs. "I think you're making this more complicated than what it is. You're acting like you're the first woman to be in love with her husband."

I suck in a deep breath and lean closer against the wall, further from the door.

Ana's in love me? Is that why she's been acting so weird? I thought love was supposed to make people happy. Ana has in no way has been acting happy. Why didn't she just tell me?

I lean closer to the door again when I hear Ana's voice.

"That's not the point, Kate. It's a dead end loving him. There's no possible future for us."

"Why isn't there?"

"Haven't you been listening? Christian only married me because he wanted to get into his trust fund. He's just using me, he doesn't love me. And then he wanted to be friends with benefits. He didn't want to be in a relationship with me. Don't you get it? Christian doesn't want to be with me. He just wants me in his life when it conveniences him."

She sounds so pitiful and it makes my heart throb. How could she think I'm just using her? I'll admit, in the beginning I was, but all that's changed now. I don't understand how she thinks I don't want to be with her. Have I really made her feel like she couldn't tell me that she loves me, or that I don't at least feel something for her?

"I thought you told me that he said he was falling in love with you?" Kate asks.

I hear Ana scoff. "He was drunk. He didn't know what he was talking about, which is obvious since it wasn't important enough for him to remember saying it."

Kate sighs. "Don't you think that maybe you should talk to him before you start assuming what your relationship with him will be like?"

"No. I already know how he feels. It would just be a waste of time."

I hear Kate huff in frustration. "You're just so hell bent on wanting to feel sorry for yourself, Ana. In my opinion it's pretty pathetic. I always thought you were the type of person to stand up for yourself, but maybe I judged you wrong. Just like how you might be judging Christian's intentions wrong."

"You know, I didn't ask you to come here and lecture me on how I should be feeling. And since when did you start championing him? You have no idea what my and Christian's relationship is like, so stop butting in!" Ana snaps, sounding frustrated.

"Then I guess there's no reason for me to be here." I hear Kate walking towards me. I hide around the corner facing away from the door. "Call me when you get your head out of your ass."

Kate walks away not bothering to close Ana's door. She says goodbye to Ray and leaves. I feel a little different about her now. I'm surprised she tried to stand up for me especially after all she said to me earlier. I wonder what's changed.

I walk around the corner and stand at the threshold of Ana's room. I stare at her curled-up form on her bed. I think I see her shoulder's shaking. I think she's crying. I hear her sniffle, proving that she's crying. I realize I really don't like seeing her sad.

Stepping into the room, I say, "Ana?"

She wipes her eyes as she sits up in bed and looks at me. "Christian. What are you doing here? I thought you went home."

I shake my head as I walk closer to her. "Not without you."

I'm standing right on the side of her bed. I slowly lean down and wipe away her tears. I'm surprised that she lets me, even more surprised when she leans into my touch. I slowly smile.

I hear her take a deep breath, open her eyes and then pull her face out of my reach. I stare into her eyes and for a minute I think about sitting down and just admit that I heard what she said, and then tell her how I feel, but I change my mind when I see defiance cloud her eyes. God, please I'm tired of arguing with this woman. Give me the strength.

"I don't want to go back there," she whispers.

"Why not?"

She shrugs. "I just don't."

"Well you're coming back home with me whether you want to or not."

She purses her lips. "You can't force me to go back there, Christian."

I raise a brow at her. "You're going, even if I have to throw you over my shoulder."

She scoots out of bed and stands on the other side. I move towards her.

"I don't want to go back, Christian."

"You're my wife. We have a house together. I'm not going back there without you."

"Why do you want me to go back so badly? Why can't I just stay here while you live there?"

"Because you're my wife and technically that house belongs to you. You don't live here anymore."

She glares at me. "Fine. But I'm sleeping in the guestroom."

I sigh and clench my jaw. "Fine."

She stands there and stares at me. She's already dressed so I know she doesn't have to change, but she couldn't even if she wanted to since most of her clothes are back at the house.

I hold my hands out impatiently. "What are you waiting for? Let's go."

She rolls her eyes and struts out of the room. I follow her. Why is this woman so difficult?

Ray meets us at the door as we prepare to leave. He wraps his arms around Ana and holds her close.

"I love you, Annie. No matter how old you get you will always be my baby girl," Ray says into her hair.

"I love you, too, Dad."

He kisses her forehead as they pull apart. Ray reaches out to shake my hand.

"See you soon, son."

"See you later, Ray," I say, guiding Ana out of the door.

I help her into the car and she surprisingly lets me, and when I'm in the driver's seat I pull out of my parents' driveway and head home.

When we're almost home I turn and say, "Papa gave me the information to open my trust fund."

"Did he?" she asks sounding uninterested.

I ignore her tone. "Yeah. I'm going to open it Monday, so I'll be able to give you your percentage soon."

"I don't want it."

I glance at her. "What?"

"I said I don't want it."

I shake my head, not understanding. "Why not?" I ask sounding perturbed. "We had a deal, Ana. I promised you a percentage so you'll get it."

"Oh my God, Christian. Does there really have to be a reason? I don't want it, so please just drop it."

I huff out an annoyed breath. "Why do you always have to make simple things so complicated?"

She doesn't answer me. I sigh. Our situation is complicated as is our relationship. Love is simply complicated.

I drive us back home in complete silence.

 **Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites. You guys are amazing people.**

 **SS &G xoxo**

 **One chapter left!**


	16. Prayers

**Chapter Sixteen-Prayers**

Ana and I have been married for three months now, even though it doesn't feel like it. Time has gone by so fast, it's almost unbelievable.

Ana graduated last month with honors and has been applying to jobs around the city in the publishing field. She hasn't heard anything back yet, but I know she's holding out for a particular publishing house that she wants to work at to offer her a job.

I opened up my trust fund and have been working hard to get my business up and running. Ana was adamant about not wanting any of it, but I've been secretly adding about one thousand dollars to her account every week. She hasn't noticed yet.

So far I've been successful with my deals. I'm working out of an office I'm renting at the moment, but when my company, GEH, starts making steady profit I'm going to buy an entire building and build up my company from there.

My and Ana's relationship hasn't gotten much better, I mean it's not terrible and we don't argue as much, but it's not really a good relationship either. We have our good days, but those are rare and far between. For starters we don't see each other a lot since I'm working from almost sun up to sun down, and she's out around looking for a job or volunteering. But when we do see each other it can be awkward.

Neither one of us has told the other how we feel. I've tried a few times but each time I attempt to something else comes up. It's almost like the universe is against me telling her, which is weird since I know I'm supposed to be with her, and only her.

Thankfully it's Friday evening, and I made a promise to myself that even though my business is extremely important I need to take care of business at home too. So I take half days on Fridays. I get as much work done as possible in the morning, and then things I don't get to I do Saturday.

It's going on eight in the evening when I get home, and I'm late only because I stopped by at Gramps to discuss a few problems I had with him. He's been my number one motivator with the process of building my company. He's given me helpful advice and reminds me of things that are important to building a profitable company.

When I get inside I hear heels clicking against the floor. I look up and see Ana strutting towards me in a shimmering sleeveless top, tight leather pants with heeled boots and a silver clutch attached to a small chain hanging from the crook of her arm. I gape at her.

She looks up at me, waves and then walks towards the door.

I grab her arm before she can leave. "Where are you going?"

"Out with Kate," she says, gazing at me impatiently.

"Where is exactly is out?"

"We're going for drinks."

I flatten my mouth. "When will you be home? I want to talk to you."

She takes a deep breath and releasing it, she says, "Um, I'm not sure. Kate says she wants to go clubbing after drinks."

I can't exactly tell her she can't go even though I want to. Sighing, I say, "Uh, alright, be safe, okay?"

"Yes, dear," she mutters as she walks out the door.

I stare after her, wishing our relationship was like how it was on our honeymoon before everything went downhill. I want to have an actual relationship with her. I want to be able to talk to her and her talk to me. We used to be at least friends, and now it's almost like we're strangers living together. I'm tired of living like this. I want to have a real relationship with my wife. I admit part of that is my fault because I haven't tried as hard as I could, but it takes two to make a relationship work, or so I've been told. I just don't know how to approach her and tell her how I feel. I've never told a girl I love her and I don't know how, really.

I walk into the kitchen to get a drink just as I hear her pull out of the driveway. She got her car out of the shop a while back, and even though she promises that it's safe, I still want to trash the pile of metal and get her a new car.

I wait past midnight for her to come home. I watch boring movies in the family room, waiting to hear her walk through the door, but boredom turns into fatigue and before I know it I'm falling asleep on the couch.

A noise coming from the foyer wakes me up. I groggily get up and go see what it was.

"Shhh," I think I hear Ana say. She sounds weird and who is she telling to shush?

"Show me which way your room is," I hear a deep voice say.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I stomp into the foyer. Did she really bring another man into our house? Is she planning on sleeping with him? Fury burns in my veins.

"Is up stair," Ana murmurs, her voice slurred. Her small clutch swings softly on her wrist.

I slide into the foyer just in time to see a man practically carrying my wife up the stairs.

"Get the hell out of my house," I hiss, my voice low and deadly.

Both Ana and the man stumble as they turn around to look at me. I get a glimpse of the guys face and immediately recognize him as the fucker who had his hands all over Ana when we got back from our honeymoon. What was his name? Josh? Joey? No, it's José.

I glare at him as he stands on the steps and stares at me. I climb the stairs and pull Ana into my arms, my eyes fixed on him the entire time.

"I was just bringing her home, she was too gone to drive," he explains, his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender.

"I thought she was out with Kate?" I ask, my voice still low.

"She was," he says.

"Katy win home," she giggles and unsteadily leans up to wrap her arms around me. I hold her against my chest since she can't seem to stand properly. "She win with Ellie—Elliot."

I frown down at her but then look back at Jose. "Do you have a ride back home?" I ask him.

He nods his head. I raise my brows. He takes the hint and leaves.

I carry Ana up the stairs as she mumbles and giggles about whatever. Going into the guestroom I place Ana on the bed and try to undress her.

"Stop wiggling so I can put you into bed, Ana," I tell her as I try to take off her heels.

"No," she grumbles. "I don wanna go to bed."

I ignore her as I continue to try to pull of her shoes. She kicks her feet and twists her body as she tries to crawl up the bed.

"Ana, seriously, come on. Don't you wanna go to sleep?"

She gazes at me with unfocused eyes. She nods her head. "I wanna sleep with you."

"Good then let me—What?" I ask after realizing what she said.

She crawls towards me on wobbly limbs, her cleavage on full display and her ass in the air. I stare down at her as she kneels in front of me, wraps her arms around my neck and tries to kiss me.

Her breath smells like straight alcohol. "How did you get into a bar and you're not twenty-one yet?" I ask.

I didn't even think about her not being twenty-one when she left. Kate turned twenty-one last month and it just slipped my mind that Ana won't be twenty-one until September.

She giggles. "I'll never tell." She tries to kiss me again. I pull her hands away from my head and lay her down.

"Let's get you into bed," I say, attempting once again to get her undressed.

She grabs my shirt and pulls me on top of her. "Join me," she breathes, licking my neck. I groan and pull away. I haven't had sex in what feels like years and the first time she wants to sex me up she would have to be drunk.

"No. You need to sleep."

"Yes, with youuu." She pulls me against her again.

"Ana, stop."

She falls back against the bed with a pout and looks at me with tears in her eyes. I sigh. Here comes the drunken waterworks. She would have to be a crier.

"Why don't you want me?" A tear rolls down her cheek.

I climb on the bed and look down at her as I unbutton her pants and pull them down. "I do want you, Ana. I always want you."

"You do?"

I nod my head as I sit her up and take off her shirt. I take off my t-shirt and slip it onto her. I'm surprised she doesn't try to fight me.

When I lay her down on the pillow she's looking up at me with droopy eyes. She's about to fall asleep. I lean over and kiss her on the forehead. I pull back to leave but she grabs my wrist.

"Stay with me," she whispers, her eyes closed.

I don't want to leave her when she's like this, so I stay and snuggle under the covers, pulling her body against mine.

"Christian," I hear her whisper.

"Hmm?" I rub my chin against her cheek.

She sleepily giggles and turns in my arms and looks at me. Lifting her finger she runs it gently over my lips. "I miss kissing you." She looks into my eyes. "I miss sleeping with you." She closes her eyes and snuggles against my chest. She sighs contently. "Mmm, I love Christian," she mumbles into my chest. I feel her go limp as she falls asleep.

I gaze down at her sleeping form and run my hand up and down her arms. Leaning down I whisper into her ear, "I love you, too."

I shift to turn off the light, and then snuggle back against Ana, falling into a deep sleep.

I wake up the next morning when I feel the warm beams of sunlight hit my face. I shift, and open my eyes, remembering that I fell asleep in the guestroom with Ana in my arms. I look down on my chest where her hand and head are resting, and smile when I see her sleeping peacefully. This is the first time in a long while that we've slept together.

I gently get up to use the bathroom without waking Ana. I tip toe across the floor and my foot accidentally knocks into something. I look down seeing that it's only Ana's purse but I do a double take when I realize I accidentally kicked some things out of it.

I slowly bend down and pick up the aluminum packets. I stare at them for a moment and then look at Ana. Why would she need condoms? She's on birth control, but that's beside the point. We haven't had sex since our honeymoon, and when we did we didn't use a condom, so why the fuck does she have these? Was she planning on using these with some other fucker?

Through a red haze, I stuff the condoms back into her purse and leave the room, not even glancing back.

I use the bathroom, go to the master bedroom—the room me and Ana are supposed to be sharing—and go down to the kitchen to make coffee and get a bowl of cereal.

It's not until a few hours later that Ana finally wakes up and comes down the stairs, still wearing my shirt but with pajama shorts underneath. I'm sitting at the kitchen island, going through emails but watching Ana out of my periphery as she walks further into the kitchen.

"Hi," she says, walking over to the cabinet to grab a mug.

I glance at her, my face impassive. "Hello."

She makes herself a cup of tea, and then turns around to face me, the island blocking her slender legs from my view. She holds the mug in both of her hands as she awkwardly stands before me.

Her tired blue eyes find mine. "So, um, did you put me to bed? I'm assuming you did since this is your shirt."

I gaze at her, emotionless. "We're you expecting someone else to put you to bed?" I ask a little harshly.

She frowns at me. "Uh, no. But I do remember José bringing me home last night. I was just making sure it was you who undressed me."

"Hmm." I look back down at my phone and continue reading my emails.

"Are you okay?" she asks, placing the mug on the countertop.

"I'm fantastic."

"Well you don't sound it. Are you mad at me or something? Is this because I came home drunk or that José brought me home? Because if it is I—"

I put my phone down and glare at her. "Why do you have condoms in your purse, Ana?" I ask, tired of beating around the bush. I want to know if she was planning on fucking someone else last night.

Her eyes widen. "What?"

"Oh don't play the innocent act. Were you going to fuck someone else last night? Because may I remind you even though we got married to get something out of it, our vows were real and said before God and our closest friends and families. So tell me, Anastasia, have you've been unfaithful to me?"

Her mouth falls open and an appalled expression colors her face. "You think I would cheat on you?" she whispers.

"Well if you weren't why the fuck are there condoms in your purse, Ana? Do you expect me to believe they just magically fell in there?" I yell at her. My fists are clenched against the countertop and my knuckles are white and my jaw clenched.

"I can't believe you, Christian. We may say some hurtful things to each other and we may irritate the hell out of each other, but I would _never_ fucking cheat on you! And I wouldn't disregard our vows like that, that's the only real thing in our marriage," she says.

She's looking at me like I'm a completely different person, but I'm still seeing red at the thought of someone else having my wife.

She shakes her head at me and stomps away towards the foyer.

"Where are you going?" I ask her.

"To my dad's. I can't even stand to look at you."

I follow her into the foyer, my eyes watching every movement she makes. She snatches her keys off the hook on the wall.

I grab her arm and pull her towards me before she even has the chance to open the door.

"You can't go running to daddy every time something goes wrong, Ana! Just for once in this fucked up relationship, just talk to me damn it!"

She lifts her head and looks me in the eye. "Fine. You want me to talk. I'll talk. Ever since this stupid arrangement started I knew that I was making a mistake. I knew it, but I ignored my gut feeling because the thought of being with you exhilarated me, even though I knew it was all fake. I wanted to know what it felt like to be with you so I could at least hope to find some closure for the teenager I was once that fantasized about you every single day. But that only backfired on me. The more time we spent together the deeper my feelings got for you until I couldn't fight it anymore. But I knew . . . I knew it was pointless loving you because ever since we were younger it's only ever been about you. About what you wanted. But my heart didn't care, and now I'm hopelessly in love with you, but that doesn't mean anything to you, does it? Because I'm only something that you used to get what you wanted." She gazes at me with watery eyes and a pale face. "Elliot gave me those condoms as a joke, and I absentmindedly put them in my purse last night. Now ask me again if I have or ever will cheat on you. My answer will always be no, because my heart will never want any other. Is that answer good enough for you?"

She wipes the tears from her cheeks, turns around and swings open the front door. I stand stupefied in the foyer for a few seconds as I watch her speed walk to her car.

My legs finally catch up with my brain and I sprint out of the door after her.

"Ana, wait!" I call as she starts the car and puts it in drive. She ignores me as she zooms down the driveway as I call out for her.

I chase her car just as she pulls out onto the road without looking, and in slow motion I helplessly watch as a UPS truck hits her left side and pushes her car further down the road. My mind slowly goes blank as I hear tires screeching and people yelling.

My body goes on autopilot as I run towards her, the only sound I now hear is blood rushing past my ears. I get to her car and my legs about give out when I see most of the driver's side pushed in and Ana's body trapped in between the door and her seat.

"Oh my God. Ana!"

My hands shake as I try to open the passenger door and find a way to pull her out, but the door isn't budging. Bystanders run over and try to help. I glance up and see my neighbor, James McNally, rapidly talking to someone on the phone. I'm assuming it's the police but I don't hear a word he says, my mind only on getting to Ana.

His wife Sandra comes over and puts her hands on my shoulders as I try to pry the door open, even though I know it's no use. Other men around me try to find a way to get Ana out from different angles but its hopeless effort, they need the Jaws of Life to get her out. The back end of the left side of her car is completely smashed in, and I feel my heart flutter and my knees buckle as I think about the possibility that Ana could have been completely crushed by metal and plastic.

"Help is on the way, honey, don't fret."

"She's still in there! She's not moving! I have to help her! I promised I would keep her safe. I promised!" I cry.

She continues to console me and it feels like it takes centuries before the ambulance and firetrucks arrive. Everything becomes a blur as they pull her out of the car and into the ambulance. I try to force my way onto the ambulance with Ana, but the paramedics won't let me since she's such in a severe condition. The McNally's offer to drive me to the hospital.

My mind is completely blank as I sit in the waiting room with my family and Ray as we wait for news. It's been almost seven hours and we still haven't heard anything. I've begged my mother about twenty dozen times to do something to make it go faster, but she tells me each time that I have to be patient and that Ana is strong. Not once, I noticed, did she say that Ana will be okay.

I know it's bad, and I know my mother knows how bad it really is but she won't tell me. By the tone of her voice I know my mother thinks there's a chance she won't make it. Every time I think about that possibility I feel like my heart fails and my soul becomes a big dark void that only Ana can fill.

I can't sit still and I constantly avoid Ray's gaze. I can't look at him knowing that I promised to keep Ana safe and yet here we all are in a sterile waiting room, waiting to hear if she's still with us. The tears continue nonstop down my cheeks and nothing anyone can say or do will make the pain go away. I know the only thing that will quell the horrible, heart-wrenching pain is Ana's beautiful baby blue eyes and her lively giggle.

"Family of Anastasia Grey?"

I immediately run towards the doctor and stand directly in front of her.

"Is my wife okay? Please tell me she's okay," I beg.

She looks weary but her voice is clear and alert. "I'm Dr. Crowe and your wife is alive but in critical condition. She has suffered severe internal injuries, mainly to her stomach and spleen due to a couple broken ribs puncturing tissue, but we managed to repair them and stem the bleeding. She's suffered from breaks in her arm and leg as well, and we have set them accordingly to make certain they heal as normal as possible." She stops and looks at me. "Unfortunately, though, recovery will take much longer with the trauma that her head has undergone. The MRI scan showed her brain has moderate swelling, so we've induced a coma to keep her from aggravating her injuries. Her bones will heal in time, but we will only know the damage to her brain once she wakes up."

"But she will wake up?" I ask desperately.

"Only time will tell. The most we can do for now is monitor her and make sure the healing process is as uncomplicated as possible."

I take a deep breath and nod my head, keeping the debilitating hopelessness I feel at bay as I feel my chances of ever seeing my wife awake again slip through my fingers.

"Can I see her?" I ask, my voice thick with unshed tears.

The doctor smiles sympathetically at me. "Of course. She's in a private room in the ICU but only two people at a time can sit with her."

I'm sitting alone in Ana's clinical stark white room. The steady beeps of her heart monitor and the slow rise and fall of her chest the only signs that my wife is still with us. Everyone's come in to see her, but I've never left her side. I'll never leave her side again.

I hold her hand in both of mine and press my lips against her cool skin. It's a miracle she didn't die on impact as I look at the damage done to her beautiful body. I feel the tears roll down my cheeks. I haven't stopped crying since I got here, and I doubt I will until I see Ana's mesmerizing eyes.

I need her to be okay. I'm not ready to let go of her yet. We haven't had enough time. We need more time.

 _God I know I've done some very bad things in my life, but please don't take her yet. I'll give up everything, the money, GEH, everything. Just not her. Not my beautiful wife. I won't ever ask for anything else. Just please don't take her away from me._

 **Epilogue is next. I won't keep you waiting long ;)**

 **Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites.**

 **SS &G xoxo**

 **If this was going to be a tragic story I would have warned you in the beginning, just so you know.**


	17. Angels

**Epilogue-Angels**

I pace across the spotless granite floors as I run my fingers through my hair, making it messier than what it already was. I can't believe this is happening. The doctor told us there could be complications in the beginning, but I wasn't expecting to watch my wife go lifeless before me.

I sit down on the plastic chair around the corner from where my only reason for living is. I pray that the doctors operating on her know exactly what they're doing. I hate hospitals. I immensely appreciate the work the doctors do to save lives, but I despise the clinical atmosphere and the depressing mood I feel whenever I walk through hospital doors.

I hate waiting. I hoped I would never have to wait to hear news on how my wife is doing ever again, and yet here I am. Waiting. Waiting to hear whether my wife will be okay . . . or whether I will never see her again.

The bone chilling fear I felt then is nothing compared to the indescribable, gut wrenching fear I'm experiencing now. I need her now more than ever. I can't do this without her.

It took five days to feel like I could relax for the first time and take a deep breath. I hope this time is nothing like that because I don't think my heart can take it. The memory is still so fresh, like it just happened only a few days ago . . .

 _"Why the fuck hasn't she woken up yet?" I yell at no one in particular as I pace outside of Ana's room while Ray and Kate talk to her unconscious form._

 _"Honey, you just have to be patient. The doctors have faith that she'll wake up. Her MRI scans show that the brain swelling has gone down, and even though it's only been a few days, her bones are healing already," my mother says to me calmly._

 _"That's not fucking good enough, Mother!" I hiss through clenched teeth as I pull on my hair. "None of that means shit unless she wakes up! It's been five fucking days—almost a week, and she still hasn't opened her eyes yet! Why? I want to know why!"_

 _"Christian, sweetheart, you need to calm down. Ana isn't going to wake up any faster with you worrying yourself like this," she tries to console me, placing a hand on my cheek._

 _I shake my head and look at her, my anxiety, fear, and worry slowly eating away at my mind, body and soul. "Mom," I whisper, tears pooling in my eyes. "What if she never wakes up?"_

 _"Oh, darling," she says, pulling me into a hug and I wrap my arms around her as I lay my head on her shoulder and sob. "Ana is strong; she's shown that already by how well her body is healing. You just have to have faith that she won't leave us, that our love for her is strong enough to pull her through this."_

 _I pull back and look down at her as I wipe at my eyes. "Do you think she'll wake up soon?" I ask through my tears._

 _My mother brushes her thumbs across my cheeks and wipes away the dampness. "I don't know, sweetheart. But over the last few days, I've been thinking that her chances are looking better and better."_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _She nods her head and gives me a small smile. "Now you need to stay strong. Ana's going to need a strong support system to get her through recovery."_

 _I nod my head and take a deep breath and wipe at my face. "You're right. I need to stay strong. I need to stay strong for Ana."_

 _She grins at me and then pulls me in for another hug. "I love you, Christian."_

 _I hug her tighter. If this terrible incident has taught me anything, it's to cherish the people we have because they can so easily be stolen from us._

 _"I love you, too, Mom."_

 _Later that night I sit at Ana's bed. Keeping a vigil eye on her and praying every five minutes that God will wake her. That he won't take her yet. Praying that she'll open those mesmerizing blue eyes so I can tell her that I love her. For now and always. Forever._

 _I've barely slept in the past five days and I feel my fatigue begin to overtake me. My heavy eyelids fall closed and my head rolls forward onto her bed as I sink into oblivion._

 _A feather brushes against my cheek and trails down to my jaw and chin. The smooth caresses continue and then I hear the voice of an angel. It sounds so familiar. It's so soft and serene. Her voice is like a lullaby, dragging me to a place where there's no pain, no disappointment, no fear. I don't want the sweet sounds to stop and I don't want the calm feeling to disappear._

 _She calls my name, but she sounds different now. She sounds sad. She calls my name and begs me to wake up. The caresses against my skin become more urgent and the angel continues to call my name. She's crying and I hear the desperation in her soft strained voice._

 _"Christian!"_

 _I wake up in a daze and rub my eyes as I sit up in my chair. It takes me a moment to regain my bearings and remember where I am. I look up and all the breath leaves me in a rush when I see baby blue eyes staring at me with worry and fear._

 _"You wouldn't wake up . . ." she whispers, her words merely a breathless croak._

 _I jump up out of my chair and run to her after a few disbelieving moments, and kiss every part of her that is accessible to me._

 _I hold her face is my hands as I stare at her while my tears flow freely._

 _"I'm not the one who wouldn't wake up," I rasp. "You've been asleep for five days. I was so scared, so worried that you wouldn't . . . that you wouldn't come back to me, Ana." I close my eyes and rest my forehead gently against hers. I stay there for minutes until she weakly touches my arm._

 _"Christian, I'm sorry . . ."_

 _I shake my head at her. "No, I'm sorry. I've been so stupid, so selfish. So blind. I'm sorry for everything, Ana. For hurting you. For making you doubt yourself. For making you feel like you couldn't just talk to me without fear of rejection."_

 _"No—"_

 _I place a finger on her lips. "No, let me talk, please. I was so caught up in what I wanted that I didn't even stop to think about what it was that you really wanted. I knew what I wanted. I wanted you. I wanted to have a life with you, to support you and take care of you. But not once did I ever think about what you wanted. I didn't even really consider the fact that maybe you could love me before all of this . . . mainly because I don't think I wanted to know if you did or didn't. I was so afraid of fucking up for good that I didn't want to acknowledge my feelings or yours, because I didn't want anything to go wrong and lose you. But ignoring my feelings obviously did more harm than good." I stop and look at her, my eyes on her tired, gorgeous blue eyes. "Ana . . . I love you. I think I've loved you for a while, but I was just too stupid and scared to admit my feelings, but I do. I love you so much and nothing you can say or do will ever change that. I will love you until my last breath, I will love you in the afterlife, and I will love you even when time ceases to exist. Because, Anastasia Grey, you are my entire reason for living."_

 _She gives me a weak but elated smile while tears slowly stream down her cheeks. "I love you, too, Christian, forever and ever and always, but . . . can you get a doctor now? My head kind of hurts and I'm really thirsty. I didn't mean to ruin the moment."_

 _I instantly stand up straight. "I'm so sorry. Yes, of course, baby. I should have called for a doctor the minute you woke," I add frowning at myself. "I'll be right back."_

 _I lean down to kiss her and, despite myself, I smile, because I know my girl is back and I will do everything in my power to make sure it stays that way. And I know it won't be easy and we still have a ton of issues to work out between us, but right now, I just want to relish the fact that she's finally awake._

 _As I leave her room to go get a doctor, I take a lingering look at her, and for the first time in days, I take a deep breath and let the calming effect of my wife's smile warm my soul . . ._

I wish I could see my wife's calming smile now as I continue to pace, looking through the glass window in front of me every now and again, and wait impatiently for a doctor to come and get me. I promised myself that day that I would never feel like how I did then. I would protect her and make sure she was as happy as she could possibly be. I would give her whatever she wanted or needed no matter the cost, no matter the time it took to get it.

It took only a few hours to create the thing she said would make her happiest—even though we weren't expecting it to happen so soon—but it's taken nine months to nourish and deliver it, although the delivery has proven to be difficult.

I sit down again and cover my face in my hands as I vigorously rub up and down. What's taking so damn long? I look at my watch and see it's only been six minutes.

"Christian?" I look up and see my dad walking towards me.

"Dad, what are you doing down here?" I ask him as I stand up.

"I came looking for your mother thinking she came back here." He stops and glances at my current attire. "Why are you wearing scrubs?" he asks with a frown. I glance down at myself eyeing the blue scrubs and shoe covers I haven't bothered to take off yet.

I sigh loudly, blowing my cheeks out as I sit back down and bounce my leg up and down. "Ana had an emergency C-section," I tell him, gazing through the window in front of us. I try to quell the rising fear for my wife bubbling in my throat. "Ana's blood pressure dropped and the baby was in distress. We didn't have any choice but to do the C-section." I sigh and run my hands down my face and then around to the back of my neck. "Then during the operation Ana lost too much blood. I watched as her skin turned pale and her eyes . . ." I shake my head and take a deep breath as I feel my dad place his hand on my shoulder.

"It'll work out, son. Ana's a strong woman and too stubborn to leave us yet, you should know that by now," he says.

I give him a half smile and look up at him. "Yeah, she is." I look up into the nursery and stare at the crib my son lies in. It's quiet for a moment. "I can't believe I'm someone's father," I whisper. "Were you terrified when you brought Elliot home as a first time parent?" I ask as I turn to look at my dad.

"Extremely. He was so tiny and looked so fragile I thought I would break him. He was only a few months old, but the first time I held him in my arms I instantly knew I loved him, even though he wasn't of my flesh. It was the same with you and Mia too," he tells me.

I study my dad's profile. "Did you still feel love for us when you were angry or disappointed with us?"

He frowns at me, his green eyes scrutinizing. "Of course I did. Why would you ask such a thing, Christian?" He slowly tilts his head as he studies me. "You think I'm still upset with you about the scam you pulled over on your grandfather?"

"Well you haven't exactly given me any indication that you're _not_ upset with me anymore," I answer with a shrug. "I guess I just assumed that you were so disappointed in me that you—"

"That I stopped loving you?" he asks, his voice incredulous.

I nod my head. And he shakes his in speechless bewilderment.

It's been almost ten months since Ana and I came clean to our families about our sham of wedding. It was three months after her release from the hospital after her accident. I told her the first day she was able to go home that I wanted to prove to her that I was devoted unequivocally to her and that I was hopelessly in love with her. So I decided that I wanted to come clean to my family and have a real wedding. A wedding where I could give Ana everything she truly deserved.

To say our families—besides Kate and Elliot—were speechless and very, very angry and disappointed was an understatement like no other . . .

 _I'm sitting before my parents, grandparents and Ray as they all either gape, scowl or remain stoic. Gramps and Grams aren't here, they went to Santa Monica for their anniversary, but I already told Gramps about Ana and me before they left. He wasn't too happy, but he said nothing really else matters as long as I'm happy now._

 _Ana's resting and I didn't want her to deal with the stress. But I cowardly wish she was here, it would keep Ray's icy eyes from being solely on me. It's been hard enough looking at Ray since Ana's accident, but I'm sure I'll die on the spot if I look at him now._

 _"I don't understand. You guys were in love, you looked so radiant together. How could this have been a scam the whole time?" my mother asks, her eyebrows furrowed together and her mouth pulled down._

 _"Mom," I say on a sigh. "Ana and I . . . our relationship was complicated, and although neither of us may have not realized or acknowledged it, we did love it each other. I was stupid and I didn't value the right things, but that's all changed now. I love Ana. I'll do anything for her."_

 _My mother just stares at me, her mouth open and eyes wide. She looks speechless._

 _"Whether you loved her or not doesn't change the fact that you lied to all of us and you tricked your grandfather into giving you $700,000 that you didn't deserve," my father bellows at me. I flinch at his words._

 _"Carrick," Papa says._

 _"No, Dad, this is completely unacceptable and don't try to soften the truth of the matter. He lied to you, to all of us for money, and on top of that he used Ray's daughter. He pulled an innocent girl into this and used her for his own selfish reasons. It doesn't matter that he loved her then or that loves her now, he needs to be punished for this!"_

 _My Grandpa Grey stares at my dad. "And how would you like me to punish him, Carrick? Take away his trust fund?" He shakes his head. "I'm not going to do that. I think its punishment enough what he's gone through. That and the fact that he's sitting before Ana's father as he admits that he married his daughter for money. Just let it be, Carrick." I don't even dare look over at Ray._

 _My father glares at his father, and then he turns to me and gives me a furious look, his eyes burning a bright green. Without another word he struts out of the family room and towards the stairs. My mother gets up and gives me a sad half smile._

 _"Give your father some time. He's had some . . . reservations about your and Ana's relationship from the beginning, but everything will work out, eventually," she says, and then follows my father's path._

 _Papa stands up and puts his hand on my shoulder. "I'm proud you had the guts to admit to all of us that this wasn't real, even though I had a hunch it wasn't from the beginning." He looks at me, his green eyes so much like my fathers, but softer at the moment. "Carrick will get over it, as did I. I'm glad Ana's recovery is going well, your grandmother and I will keep her in our prayers." He squeezes my shoulder and walks out of the room, leaving me with Ray._

 _I slowly lift my eyes to his. His expression confuses me, but I will myself not to look away. He rubs his hand over his mouth and then says, "You know, I feel like I just keep getting hit with bad news. First I get a call that my only child was in a car accident, lying broken and unconscious in a hospital bed. And now discovering that she agreed to participate in a sham wedding solely for money." He shakes his head and sighs. "I want to blame you for all of this, but I know Ana's had a hand in this too. You both made your own decisions, your poor decisions." He stops and scrutinizes me for a moment. "I still think you're a good kid, Christian, maybe a little misguided at times, and I know that you do love my daughter despite your recent revelation. But when you're a parent nothing else matters but your child's safety and happiness. Now tell me, can you keep my baby girl safe and endeavor to make her happy? Because if not, this time around I won't be so willing to give her away to you."_

 _"Yes, sir. I love your daughter and I would never ever do anything to put her in danger, and I never want to see her sad. I only want her happy . . . even if that means that she'd be happier with someone other than me," I tell him sincerely._

 _He stares at me, and then slowly stands up. I stand up too and watch as he steps closer to me and holds out his hand. I take it and flinch as he squeezes it hard._

 _"Don't disappoint me, Christian. This is the last chance I'm giving you, and if I hear that you've intentionally hurt my daughter, you wouldn't like the outcome. I promise you that."_

 _"I promise I won't, sir," I say and he lets go of my hand. I rub my fingers._

 _"Enough with the sir, it's Ray. Now come on, I want to go check on Annie and see if she needs anything."_

 _I follow him out of the room and up to my old room where Ana's resting. I take a deep breath knowing that the hardest battle is over but we still have a few more obstacles to face . . ._

"Oh, Christian," my dad says. "I may have been furious with you at the time but I never stopped loving you. We all make mistakes, son, and we learn from them. You'll learn in time, with your bundle of joy here, that the love you harbor for your child isn't something you can just turn off. It's unconditional, and even though you've done some things that have really tested my patience, I never once stopped loving you."

I nod my head and slowly smile as I look up at him. "I love you, too, Dad."

He puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes softly. He's about to say something but a nurse interrupts him.

"Mr. Grey, your wife is awake and is asking for you."

I instantly jump up and begin to run towards Ana's room, but stop and turn around and hug my dad.

"Thank you," I whisper.

He pats my back. And pulls back and smiles at me. "Go to your wife, we'll be here waiting to greet her and the baby."

I nod and smile and then follow the nurse down the hall and around the corner. Before I go into the room I ask her if she can bring me my son, but she tells me that he's already with her. I guess I was too occupied with my thoughts I didn't notice anyone take him out of his crib.

I tentatively step into the room and a warm, content feeling rushes over my body. There she is, my gorgeous wife, and in her arms our newborn son.

I walk further into the room, and when she finally notices me, she beams at me. I grin back, happy to see that the color has returned to her face and that her eyes are bright and alight with love and happiness.

"Hi, Mrs. Grey, hello, Baby Grey," I say as I lean down to kiss both of them.

"Hi," Ana says as she gazes up at me. "Are you okay?" she asks me.

I smile at her and brush away a few strands of hair from her face. "I should be asking you that, but yes, I'm fine now that I see you're better. And of course since our little invader has finally arrived."

We both gaze down at the little body with dark hair and soft, pale skin swaddled in a blue blanket with small brown teddy bears sewn randomly into the fabric. Ana gently runs her finger along his forehead as he soundlessly sleeps against her chest.

"He's so precious. I love him so much. I never knew I could love someone I just met so much. But I do. With all my heart," she whispers and leans down to kiss him.

"He loves you, too. But it's impossible not to love you." She looks up at me and smiles and then rolls her eyes playfully. A nurse knocks on the door and then comes in, interrupting our private moment.

"Before I file this, we still need a name. Have you two picked one yet?" she asks.

I look down at Ana and then our baby. My eyes trail down to the teddy bears on his blanket and I smile. Teddy, short for Theodore after Gramps. I love it. I look down at Ana.

"I like the name Teddy, short for Theodore," I whisper.

She looks up at me. "After your grandfather?" she asks.

I nod my head. She looks down at our baby boy and pulls the cover down further from his chin.

"Teddy," she says, as if testing the word. "Theodore . . . Theodore Raymond Grey." She looks up at me, her eyes searching mine.

I slowly grin at her. "It's perfect. I love it, baby." She grins at me and I lean down to kiss her. The nurse confirms his name and leaves us for a private moment before we invite our families in.

"Hi, my little Teddy bear," Ana coos to him. "I love him," she says again, and then stares up at me. "I love you. Thank you, Christian, for giving me something that I will cherish forever."

I grin at her. "I should be thanking you, baby, you did all the work."

She cuddles Teddy closer to her. "And every single second was more than worth it."

A few hours later both of our families come to visit and fawn over our new addition. I can already tell he's going to be spoiled like crazy, but no other child will ever be loved as much as Teddy will be, I'm sure.

Ana's exhausted after all of the excitement. She's nodding off, but I see her fighting it as she gazes at our child in his bassinette next to her bed. I walk over to her and caress her face.

"Ana, baby, you're exhausted. Go to sleep, we'll be here when you wake up. I promise." She nods her head and almost immediately falls asleep.

I take advantage of the first time I have my son all to myself. I pick him up and sit in a rocking chair placed by the bassinette, cooing to him and telling him little stories about Ana and me when we were younger and how everything was so simple. I can't help but grin affectionately every time his face twitches or he moves his tiny little limbs.

I can't believe that this is my life now. I would have never imagined that at twenty-two I would have my own company that is becoming more successful than I could have ever hoped for. That I would be married to a woman I love more than water, or that I would have a son that totally completes me.

I look up at Ana as she slumbers peacefully in bed, and then look at my son. This is my family. I had one reason for living, and now I have two. I will do everything to make sure that they both know how special they are to me. That I need them. That nothing and no one is more important them.

That I will love them.

Forever.

 **So that's the end.**

 **I get that some of you are probably disappointed that this was so short, but I did say in the first chapter that this was only going to be sixteen chapters, not including the epilogue.**

 **There will not be a sequel because I wrote the epilogue in a way that there shouldn't be any loose ends. But I did say that if you guys wanted it that I would write some chapters in Ana's POV. Just let me know which chapters you guys want, if you want to read it, and I'll try my best to make it good. And please don't ask me to write the entire story from Ana's POV because my answer will be no, that's too much work, and Ana's character in this story is exhausting to think about.**

 **Anyways aside from all of that I enjoyed writing this, even more so enjoyed reading your guys reviews. I can't thank all of you enough for the support and interest you've given this story. It means a lot that there are people out there willing enough to read my somewhat crazy ideas.**

 **Aside from one particular person, you guys are amazing people and thank you for reading ;)**

 **And of course thank you for all the wonderful reviews, follows and favorites.**

 **SS &G xoxo**


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